The Countdown
by Rev897
Summary: After the Black Doom incident, Shadow has finally moved on and begun a normal life. Sadly, this soon comes to an end. He is contacted by a killer who has a game for Shadow to play. Shadow must seek the help of his friends as The Countdown ticks life away.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh, hi internet. Thanks for even stopping by to read my first, and possibly, only story. First of all, I'm mostly doing this to practice writing and because I thought I should contribute to a site that I frequently visit. As for the story itself, relationships will exist, but won't be very major; I'm focusing more on telling a story (plus I'm a guy). If some characters seem OOC, it's mostly because things have changed from certain circumstances, but don't worry, you'll see many sides to the characters. That's all that I can think of right now. Enjoy.**

The Countdown

Act 1: Scream

Chapter 1: Clear Skies

Sunlight shone in from a window as the room was filled with the buzzing of an alarm clock. The buzzing stopped when a gloved hand hit the 'off' button. Ruby eyes flicked open and peered at the time on the clock.

'2:00 PM,' it read. To the average person, this would be cause for panic, but not to this person. With a short groan, he got out of his small bed and walked to the mirror hanging on the wall. The reflection of a jet black hedgehog with red streaks in his quills stared back at him.

Shadow the hedgehog sighed and began readying himself for the day and for work. He went to his closet and pulled out a red t-shirt and a pair of dark bluejeans. Mobians, unlike humans, had the choice of going out in public with or without clothing, but Shadow preferred to fit in with both groups.

Before these times, he had been in the employ of the Guardian Union of Nations, or G.U.N. The job had been awarded to him by the Commander of G.U.N. himself after Shadow had defeated the alien warlord Black Doom. Shadow cringed at the thought of his name. He had learned that Black Doom was his biological 'father' with the help of his creator, no, his true father Professor Gerald Robotnik. Back to G.U.N., he had been happy to have that job until only a few months ago. They had assigned him an assassination mission despite Shadow's insistence to protect every person on the planet. Soon afterward, he resigned and moved to Station Square. Now, he had a new job and was ready to go to it.

He walked out of the apartment complex where he lived and onto the streets of Station Square. The weather was warm, the skies were clear, and Shadow was early. What better time to simply cut through the park?

His jet shoes clanked against the sidewalk as he took in the fresh air and green foliage. The birds sang as Shadow began to think that this would be a very good day.

Then _he _showed up.

"Hey, Shadow!" the voice called. The ebony one rolled his eyes. To fit in with his new circle of friends, Shadow was forced to learn how to be sociable from his friend Rouge the bat. However, if there was one person that Shadow had the most trouble being friendly with, it was him. Not that Shadow hated him. In fact, he had many qualities that Shadow respected. Unfortunately, he was also one of the most hyperactive annoying creatures that Shadow knew. "Hello, Sonic," he replied.

Walking up from behind him, Sonic put his arm around Shadow with the grin that he had practically copyrighted by now. Looking into his green eyes, Shadow saw a gleam similar to a pound puppy that had just been adopted.

_Here we go, _Shadow thought.

"So Shadow, I was just thinking. The weather's so nice, and Eggman hasn't reared his ugly head for a while..."

This much was true. Sonic had foiled the Doctor's last plot a few weeks ago and he hadn't been seen since. Shadow should have figured that Sonic's insatiable appetite for adventure would lead eventually lead Sonic to him.

"Look, Sonic," Shadow began, "I would love to have another race with you and have it end up being a tie _again_, but I have to go to work." With that, Shadow began to walk off without him.

"Oh, come on, Shadow! It's just one little race!" Sonic begged.

"No," Shadow answered, "I'm not in the mood."

"Fine," the azure hedgehog said, "I'll just have to follow you around until you are in the mood."

Shadow sighed and walked on choosing to ignore him. Thankfully, Sonic managed to keep his mouth shut as he followed the annoyed one.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached Shadow's destination: Club Rouge. The club was owned by one of Shadow's closest friends, Rouge the bat. She had given him the job after he had resigned from G.U.N. and taught him how to act... normal.

Shadow took out his keys and unlocked the front door. When he opened it, he pushed Sonic to the side long enough to close the door behind him and re-lock it. Sonic was soon staring through the glass door at Shadow with a look of amused defeat on his face. "Hey! No fair!" he shouted.

"Shadow, what's going on?" a voice behind him called. Shadow turned to face his employer, a white bat dressed in her usual jumpsuit with a pink heart across her chest.

"Just keeping out the riff-raff, Rouge. That's what you pay me for, right?"

Rouge smiled and rolled her eyes. Taking out her keys she corrected him, "Actually, I pay you to tend bar. You throw in the riff-raff thing for free. Secondly, Sonic isnt riff-raff, he's a good friend and he's always welcome in here. Right, Sonic?" she added a wink to this inquiry.

Sonic smiled smugly through the glass and nodded. Rouge unlocked the door and let Sonic in, much to the irritation of Shadow who simply turned and walked to the bar. He looked out at the empty dance floor and noticed the empty DJ station. "Where's Knuckles?" he asked.

"He's having trouble with his equipment, he'll be out in a few minutes," she replied. "So Sonic, what brings you back here?" Shadow chuckled softly. So he wasn't the first one Sonic had gone to in his boredom.

"I'm waiting on Shadow. He's going to race me at some point whether he likes it or not."

"Oh," she said, "Then good luck to both of you." Shadow noticed the smirk on Rouge's face and was thankful that at least she knew what the outcome of the race would be.

"Why bother?" asked a voice, "Shadow's not one to change his mind very easily and we all know that you two just tie every time." Shadow smirked. It was good to have co-workers that were less naive than Sonic.

"Hey, Knuckles," Shadow called. A red echidna with a crescent shape on his chest had walked in carrying a large speaker. It was Knucles, the club's DJ and one of Rouge's closest friends. He, too, had learned that there was more to life than simply focusing on a goal. The new camera and alarm system for the Master Emerald had helped him calm down, also.

"Sorry it took so long, this thing short-circuited because some stupid kid put a ring in it," Knuckles explained. "Are we ready to open?"

"Now that you're here, yes," said Rouge, unlocking the door.

"Great!" exclaimed Sonic. "Now I can order drinks, right?"

"Um... sure, Sonic. Whatever you like." Judging by the tone of her voice, it seemed that Rouge was as surprised as Shadow to hear that everyone's favorite blue blur drank. If the parents of Sonic's fans ever found out... Hm...

"Alright, fine, what'll it be?" asked Shadow, trying not to sound very eager to oblige.

"How about a cognac with Coke?" Sonic suggested. This didn't surprise Shadow. A strange drink for a strange person.

Shadow took a glass and began preparing the drink. He took the cognac in one hand and the Coke in another and poured them simultaneously into the glass. Then he performed a trick that he had been working on for a few weeks. Throwing the cognac up into the air, he tossed the Coke from one hand to the other, turned around to place it back into the refrigerator, and caught the cognac behind his back. Applause came from behind him as Sonic commented, "Nice form, but check _this _out."

As Shadow put the bottles away, Sonic rubbed his gloved hands together, held up the drink, and downed it in a matter of seconds. Immediately afterward, he slammed the glass back down on the bar and began to rub his temples. "Whew, I haven't done that one in a while."

"I'm impressed. I didn't know that you could handle that kind of stuff," Shadow commented.

Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "Yep, I just need to do it in the daylight hours to keep from getting too drunk."

Shadow sneered. "But I wonder, just how much _can _you handle?"

Sonic's trademark grin returned to his face. "Bring it on, bar boy."

Knuckles sat at his DJ station with an evil grin on his face. He had caught Shadow's meaning.

Shadow reached under the bar and handed Sonic a packet of Alka-Seltzer. "You're going to need it by the time I'm through with you," he warned.

"Like I said, bring it on."

"I intend to."

Cracking his fingers, Shadow began the onslaught. Drink after drink after drink, each stronger than the last, Sonic gulped down every one. By the time the first group arrived at the club, Sonic was having difficulty even lifting the glass. "Is that all you've *hic* got?" Sonic asked.

Shadow had to keep himself from laughing. It was working. "Not even close."

For the next hour, Shadow juggled the orders of the guests and the slew of drinks that he provided for Sonic, but it was worth it. Just when Shadow thought that the blue hero would never crack, Sonic spoke, his words a drunken slur. "I'll tell ya Shadow, *hic* this race is gonna be fan-" but before he could finish the word, he collapsed on the bar. Shadow's plan had succeeded. On the other side of the room, Knuckles was dying with laughter, but Shadow wasn't quite finished yet. He printed out the massive tab that Sonic had accumulated, tied it to the blue one's arm, picked him up, and threw him out of the club doors.

When he walked back inside, he met the worried stares of the clubgoers. He stared back trying to make it seem less akward until Rouge broke the silence. "Don't worry, people, he only does that to drunks." She grinned slyly and walked up to one of the bar patrons. "So I'd take it easy if I were you." The cat looked down at his martini, put it back on the bar, and left. "Knuckles, would you stop laughing and put on a new song?"

It was now 3:00 AM, and Shadow was walking back home. He would enjoy reading in the next day's newspapers that the famous Sonic the hedgehog had been found drunk outside of a nightclub. Unfortunately, that day was well and truly over. This was marked by the worst sound that he could possibly hear at the time:

The ringing of his cell phone.

**If you've gotten this far, thanks a ton for reading it. I know that there wasn't really any action in this first chapter, but don't worry, it'll pick up. Reviews are very much appreciated (not that I'm expecting very many from this first chapter). Tune in next time to find out what's so bad about a ringing cell phone. -Rev897**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2, guys. Wow, I would like to thank kharmachaos for a very kind and helpful review. It really means a lot to have someone give me a review after only the first chapter. Anyway, I must admit that this story is going to be pretty dark, but I changed the rating to T because there won't be any language or sexual content. So here's the chapter where the action starts. Enjoy. (p.s., I forgot to do this in the first chapter, but I do not own Sonic, Shadow, or any of the characters that are the superb creations of SEGA and Sonic Team. This is only a fan-based fiction.)**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 2: The Clock Is Wound

The high-pitched chirping of his phone knocked Shadow off of his train of thought. Who would be calling him this late? Did Rouge need help with something?

He took out his phone (a gift from Rouge) and looked at the number. Shadow didn't recognize it. It was probably someone trying to call somebody else; and if Shadow learned anything about phones, it was that the person would probably keep calling.

He opened up the phone.

Before he could even speak, a strange voice spoke through the other end. "Hello, Shadow. The Countdown begins now."

This certainly eliminated the 'wrong number' possibility since the caller knew his name. "Who is this?" Shadow asked.

He noticed that the voice had likely gone through a disguising processor as it responded, "That's a good question. But is it important right now?"

Shadow immediately hung up. One name popped into his head: Sonic. It had been a few hours since Shadow had thrown him out, so, obviously, Sonic had sobered up and was now seeking revenge. It was too late in the night for games, so Shadow wouldn't play.

He was crossing the small bridge that was close to his apartment when his phone rang again. He still didn't recognize the number, but it was different from the last one. As soon as he put the newly opened phone up to his ear, the same bizarre voice came out of the other end. "I don't like to be hung up on, Shadow. But I'm willing to forgive you; water under the bridge. Speaking of bridges, you may wish to check under the one that you're standing on."

This was a bit unnerving to Shadow. How did this person know that he was on that bridge? They could easily be hiding nearby ready to jump out at him. Still, at least it would get Sonic, or whoever it was, off his back. He heard the dial tone on the other end and clapped his phone shut.

Activating his jet shoes, he put them on a setting low enough for him to safely hover down onto the concrete drainage path leading to the round pass underneath the bridge. He walked into the circular hole and saw something that made his eyes widen in shock: a human girl. She was swinging from side-to-side with a noose around her neck and a bloody number 50 carved into her torso.

The very sight made Shadow cringe with disguist and anger. _Protecting the people of this world is my job; if you mess with them, you mess with me_, he silently told the killer.

Shadow's phone chirped again. The number was still unrecognized, but Shadow didn't have to think twice to guess who it was. Again, the voice spoke. "I hope that by now you realize that this is something that many would not take lightly. But don't worry, it's only a game."

"What is this?" Shadow asked in disguist. How could a person treat this like a game?

"It's the Countdown, Shadow. Here are the rules:

Rule #1: I have fifty targets all over Station Square. Your job is to catch me before i kill them all. Rule #2: I talk to you, and you only. Rule #3: If you fail to catch me in time, then I will kill the person closest to you. As an added bonus, I'll call you every time someone dies. I'll even give you a hint as to where the next one will be with every body. Feel free to bring cops, detectives, whoever. Remember to have fun; it's a game."

30 minutes had passed since the line had gone dead between Shadow and the killer. The police were now investigating the scene. Shadow had informed them, of course. It wasn't because he thought he needed them, it was because he knew that something like this should be reported. Still, maybe they could see something that he couldn't.

"What does it look like?" he was asking the person who appeared to be in charge: a large dark-haired human male with a short brown moustache.

"Well, we should be glad that you called this in," the man replied. "By the way, my name is Officer Sells. I have a feeling we'll be getting well acquainted if the situation is what you tell me it is. So you're walking home from work, and some nutjob calls you and tells you to look under this bridge. Then you find this girl hanging here and he tells you that it's all a big game?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"And he's left it up to you to catch him, or the person closest to you dies?"

"That's what he told me."

"In that case, as long as this guy follows his own rules, I don't really need to be worried about your safety."

Shadow hadn't really thought about this, but he supposed that the man was right. Before he could answer, another car pulled up rather haphazardly. Three Mobians quickly stepped out of it and Shadow immediately understood the reason for the dangerous driving.

"Boss! Boss! Did you see me? How I fishtailed back there and got out real quick? Aw man, I must have looked so cool!"

"Good work, Charmy! You'll be getting that driver's license in no time!"

"With that kind of recklessness, he'll be getting it after he gets out of prison, Vector."

"Aw, lighten up, Espio. The kid's a natural. Besides, what are they gonna do? Arrest him?"

Officer Sells immediately interceded, "Actually, we just might."

Vector quickly turned around with a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, hey Sells! I-I was j-just messin' around. You know, a joke." His massive crocodile jaw smiled nervously. The large green crocodile was the leader of the small-but-effective Chaotix Detective Agency. He was followed by the more calm and responsible purple chameleon, Espio. Then there was Charmy. If there was a competition in life to decide who could irritate Shadow the most, Sonic would take first, and that little bee would take a close second. Thankfully, it was up to the other two to deal with him.

Charmy had turned around to look at the crime scene when he noticed Shadow standing there. "Hey! It's Shadow! How have you been man, huh? What are you doing here? *gasp* Did you decide to become a detective too? Oh, that is so cool! Maybe you could work for us a-" Charmy's ramblings were cut short by Espio's hand over his mouth.

"I think he was the one who called the murder in, Charmy." At least one of the members could make decent deductions. "In any case, hello, Shadow."

"Yeah, hey, Shadow. We haven't seen you since the Bla-... I mean, the alien incident," greeted Vector remembering Shadow's distaste for the mere mention of his 'family's' name.

Shadow did the last thing that all three of them had expected: he smiled and replied, "Hey guys." All three of the detectives' eyes widened. "By the way, it was mainly Rouge who helped me loosen up."

"Actually, you're right, Espio. Shadow was just telling me about how the murderer had told him where to find the body," said Sells, trying to get back to the point.

Shadow proceeded to explain the situation and 'game' to the detective trio. "Oh, that's sick!" remarked Charmy.

"So he's leaving clues for you, huh? asked Vector. "In that case, we should start looking around for one."

Shadow nodded, and the four of them began to search the crime scene for the clue. Officer Sells was watching them apprehensively. They should be checking for fingerprints or fibers first; deal with one murder at a time. Of course, the Chaotix were probably more qualified in investigation than him; he had learned that from his previous work with them. Still, they were disregarding the body. He was about to step in and make them back off when Vector shouted, "I've found something! It's a piece of paper."

Sells stepped in as the others gathered around Vector. The paper was folded, but there appeared to be some writing on it. "Go ahead," advised Espio, "it's our only lead right now."

Unfolding it, Vector read aloud, "He who makes me doesn't want me. He who buys me doesn't need me. He who uses me doesn't know it."

"A riddle. This guy really is treating this like a game," Shadow commented.

Espio closed his eyes in thought. "The maker doesn't want. Hm, that could be almost anything... Buyer doesn't need. Let's see, not a very narrow range of choices, is it? Hm..."

"Well, whatever's going on here, I think that Shadow should hold on to this. He's the only one that can contact the guy. Well, he contacts you, but whatever. The main point is that we need a forensics team in here to search for something else," suggested Sells.

"Good idea," said Vector, "you just go home, Shadow, and leave the rest to us for now."

Shadow frowned at this notion, but decided that they were both right. "Alright, I guess I'll see you guys later, then."

"Bye, Shadow! Glad you're not so serious anymore!" called Charmy. But as Shadow walked home, he thought, _Wrong, Charmy. I might be taking this more seriously than anything._

**Alright, that's another chapter down. Next time, I'll be introducing the OC that I'll be using for this story (don't worry, it's a girl and I'm a guy, so no major shipping involved). Once again, thanks for the read. See you next time (quite a cheerful farewell for such a dark story, huh?).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Helloooooo, everybody. I hope you liked the last chapter because in this one... the action dies down a little. Wait! Don't go! I promise it'll pick right back up next time! Anyway, thank you to The Sky Hedgehogian Maestro for your helpful critiques. I've discovered that I really do enjoy writing, so this probably won't be the only story I do. Also, thank you to ShadowUniverse for your kind review (You guys are lucky to be getting the early reviews in because I'll probably stop personally thanking people before long). In any case, enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 3: Friendly Condolences

The sun rose the next morning illuminating the bedroom of Shadow's apartment.

'He who makes me doesn't want me. He who buys me doesn't need me. He who uses me doesn't know it.'

He had been sitting at his bedside re-reading the riddle over and over all night without a wink of sleep. Of course, being the Ultimate Lifeform eliminated the need for such activity; he mainly did it because he enjoyed dreaming. No dreams came that night, however, only a nightmare. Someone was trying to get to him. Who could it be? All of his enemies were dead. Was it a person Shadow knew or just some crazy killer?

His ponderings were interrupted by the telephone by his bedside ringing. "Yes?" he said, picking up the phone.

A familiar, yet slightly more concerned than usual voice came out of the earpiece. "Shadow, are you ok?"

"Well Rouge, I'm about as 'ok' as I can be after last night."

"I know, I saw it on the news. What, exactly, is going on?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Anyway, I have a feeling that, if this was on the news, I'm going to be getting a lot more calls like this."

"Yeah, good point. How about this? I'll close Club Rouge for today and try to get everybody together so you can explain everything."

"Sounds like a plan. Just don't call the Chaotix guys, they already know."

"Alright. Then I'll see you at 5?"

"Sure."

After hanging up, Shadow turned his attention back to the riddle. Why wouldn't you want something if you made it yourself? There were plenty of people in the world who bought things that they didn't need. The biggest question was, how could you use something if you didn't even know about it? Shadow became so engrossed by the riddle that he spent almost the entire day trying to figure it out. Luckily, he was able to catch himself and get to the club at 5.

When he opened the front door, the room fell silent and all eyes were upon him.

"There's the guy!" shouted Sonic, grinning.

There was a good deal of people there, so Rouge had obviously done her job. She was standing next to Knuckles who had also been talking to Sonic. Next to them was Amy Rose, a pink hedgehog and Sonic's self-proclaimed future wife. She was standing next to Tails, Sonic's twin-tailed fox sidekick, and Cream, a young rabbit holding a small Chao. Also present was Omega. He was one of Eggman's prized robots until the Doctor locked him away. From that point on, he joined Shadow and Rouge and became Shadow's best friend. Together, the three of them were known as Team Dark.

"Greetings, Shadow," said Omega in his toneless robotic voice. "My sensors indicate a high level of stress within your cranium. I wish to alleviate you by whatever means necessary."

"Thanks, Omega," replied Shadow. Even robotic sympathy was helpful.

"I think that we can get to the stress levels a little bit later, Omega," said Knuckles. "Right now, I want to know what's going on."

"Mr. Shadow, are you in trouble?" asked Cream in her soft high-pitched voice.

"Well, it's not so much me as it is the rest of you," replied Shadow.

"Hey! Just what's that supposed to mean?" asked Sonic.

"Shadow, what's going on here?" asked Tails.

"If you'd give me time, I could explain." The room fell silent at Shadow's words. "Much better." The next fifteen minutes were spent recounting Shadow's experiences the previous night ending, finally, with the riddle.

No one in the room spoke for a while. Finally, Amy broke the silence. "Wow. That's really something."

Cream continued, "I just can't believe that someone would do such a thing." She broke down sobbing, and her Chao, Cheese and Amy comforted her.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Rouge softly.

"I guess the first thing to do is to try to solve the riddle," suggested Tails. "Read it to us one more time, Shadow."

Shadow recited the riddle for them without the paper; he had been reading it for the past 14 hours, so he didn't need it. All of Shadow's friends began to think. Their ideas came out, but were almost immediately shot down by someone else.

"It's a book; by the time the writer's done with it, he's sick of reading it."

"But you always know when you're reading a book."

"What about medicine? You don't know it's working once you've taken it."

"But people only buy medicine if somebody's sick."

Needless to say, the riddle was a lock to a very specific key. After a few minutes of debate, Knuckles spoke up. "Wait a minute. I think we should be more concerned about the big picture right now. You know, because one of us might die."

Everyone stopped speaking and turned to face Knuckles. "Well, we also need to focus on the riddle so that no one else has to die," said Amy.

"Actually, that riddle's starting to hurt my head. I'm the fastest thing alive, but I'm no Sherlock," said Sonic, scratching his head.

"Ok, let's go with worst case scenario and say we can't find the guy before he kills all 50 of them. What should we do then?" asked Tails.

"Well... It's just a thought... But what if we, you know... left Shadow out of this?" suggested Knuckles nervously. Everyone turned to him with a puzzled look on their face. "I mean, if we just left him alone, we could keep solving the riddles without any of us being in danger in the end."

The room erupted in a simultaneous, "WHAT?"

Shadow stared at the floor. He wanted to stay out of this part.

"No way, Knuckles, if we neglected Shadow, he'd just run off and we'd never see him again!" cried Amy.

"If there's no one to be close to, the guy would probably kill Shadow instead," said Tails.

Omega spoke next, "In any case, this unit will not betray his closest comrade. Not even at the expense of his own body."

A wave of agreement passed through the room and Knuckles felt it most of all. "No, you're right. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, Shadow."

Shadow continued to stare at the floor. He wanted the subject to be dropped altogether. Standing up, he said, "Don't worry about it. Listen, I really don't want to talk about this anymore. If you don't mind, I'd like to excuse myself."

Cream smiled and said, "Yes, please get some rest, Mr. Shadow. I'm sure you're very tired."

Sonic grinned and added with a thumbs-up, "Yeah, just leave the rest to us right now. And don't worry about the whole 'passing out' thing. Tails got me up and sober before anyone saw me." In a softer voice, he added, "And thanks for the Alka-Seltzer, too."

Shadow smiled, nodded, and walked out of the club. The sun was setting and he needed to feel more relaxed or he'd never get any sleep. To the park, it was.

Walking down the path, he heard many parents calling their children, and the children's disappointed moans. He spotted an empty bench and decided to sit down. What was he going to do? No one seemed to know the answer to the riddle. If he failed to catch the killer, who would be killed? He took out the riddle again. Was there something he missed?

After a while, Shadow gave up and put his face in his hands. How was he ever going to figure it out?

"Are you ok?" asked a voice. Shadow looked up to see a brown cat with blue eyes. She was wearing a black shirt with bluejeans. Like him, she liked her clothing plain and simple, it seemed.

"No, I'm not ok. If you don't mind, could you please leave me alone?"

"Fine, I just wanted to know what was on that paper."

"It's something that you doesn't involve you." This was only half-true. She could be one of the killer's targets.

"That doesn't mean I can't help you with it. Just let me see it."

Shadow sighed. There was just no stopping this girl, was there? He handed her the riddle and she looked at it. "Oh, a riddle. Don't worry, I'm good at riddles." She began to pace back and forth pensively.

"Let's see, if the guy who made it doesn't want it, then it's gotta be something really bad... And the person who buys it, why wouldn't they need it?... The only reason I could think that someone who uses it isn't aware of it is if it was a-"

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" asked Shadow.

"Oh, sorry. I kinda got carried away. I'm Jen, what's your name?"

"Shadow."

"Ok, Shadow, what's this riddle for, anyway?"

Shadow paused. "I can't tell you."

"I can see why, you were really stressed about it."

_Finally_, he thought, _a girl who won't try to force the reason out of you_.

"You look like you've been through a lot. Is there anything I can do about it?"

Shadow looked up at her with a puzzled expression. Who was she that she wanted to help him? She didn't even know him.

"I doubt it," Shadow replied.

"Wait a minute, aren't you that guy on the news that got called by the killer?"

"The very same."

"Wow, you _have _been through a lot. Ok, I'll shut up and keep working on the riddle."

Shadow liked where this was going. Focus less on what he looked like and more on the problem at hand.

After a while, Shadow became tired of waiting. "Listen," began Shadow, "it's getting late and you should probably be getting back home."

Jen looked back up at him and smiled. "Ok, I get it. Thanks for letting me see the riddle." She handed him the paper back and began to walk away. "By the way," she said, turning around, "It's a coffin."

Shadow stared at her with wide eyes. She had just solved what all of his friends combined couldn't figure out.

"I told you, I'm good at riddles."

Shadow got up and began following her. "And what else are you good at?" he asked almost challengingly.

She blushed and looked down. "Not that much else. Anyway, you're right. It's getting late and I should be getting home. See you later, Shadow."

She ran off before Shadow could stop her. "Good night, Jen," he whispered and began to walk home as well.

**First of all, as I said in my last chapter, Jen is not going to become Shadow's love interest. Are they going to bond? Yes. Are they going to fall madly in love with eachother? No. Am I going to shut up and keep working on my story? Maybe if a plate of cookies falls from the sky... I'm waiting... Ah, I'll do it anyway (btw, Jen is named after Jen Ledger, the chick drummer/ singer with a British accent from the band, Skillet. Yeah, just from my description of her you can tell that she's awesome).**


	4. Chapter 4

**What's up, people? Welcome back to the story. I don't really know what to say right now other than, enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 4: The Hourglass Drains

Shadow's eyes opened the next morning after a short, but pleasant sleep. It seemed that his entire problem had been solved overnight. He had met a girl who solved a seemingly impossible riddle faster than Sonic could clear a continent.

All that was left was to figure out what the answer meant. A coffin, huh? Was there a place in Station Square that made coffins? No, it would most likely be Station Square Cemetery. It was the largest concentration of coffins that Shadow could think of.

At 4 AM, he decided to depart. If he were the killer, he would strike at some time where it would be difficult to see him, the dark. He walked across the sidewalk in a pair of dark jeans and a black jacket. It was still cool enough for him to see his own breath before the autumn sun hit the horizon.

In the darkness, Shadow made his way to the cemetery. It was an all-hours cemetery that allowed visitors to pay their respects at any time they wished. He walked through the imposing iron gates and into the cemetery.

Headstones came out of the ground on either side of him. Most people would be terrified at the idea of walking through a graveyard in the dark, but Shadow had faced worse things than zombies or vampires.

Now came the tricky part: finding out where to look for the killer. If it was a coffin, should he be waiting for a funeral or something? Then came a sound that chilled Shadow to the bone. His cell phone, right now, was even more terrible than a screaming banshee. It could only mean one thing.

He looked at the number; unknown, of course. When he opened it, the familiar eerie voice came out. "Whoops, just missed me. I have to admit, though, I'm impressed that you got my riddle right."

Shadow scowled. "Who are you, you sick-?"

"The body's three rows to the front, and twelve headstones to the right of the one you're in front of right now. Better luck next time."

The line went dead and Shadow walked toward the headstone that the killer described. Sure enough, there was his next victim sitting in an open coffin, a purple male hedgehog with a bloody number 49 in his torso. However, the scene that disturbed Shadow more could be seen as the sun first peeked above the horizon. On the tombstone in front of the victim, painted in blood,

'RIP

Maria

50 years ago.'

Shadow's scowl deepened. This had gone beyond personal. Maria was a young human girl who had grown up on Space Colony ARK along with Shadow. She was his best and only friend. Always kind, honest, loyal; all that she wanted to do was visit Earth.

Beyond that, she was, quite literally, the reason for his existence. Professor Gerald Robotnik was her grandfather and creator of the ARK. She had a nearly incurable terminal disease, and the professor put her on the ARK for her own safety. He spent the rest of his life trying to create an immortal creature, the Ultimate Lifeform so that he might cure Maria. After many unsuccessful attempts, the professor turned to Black Doom, and the two made a deal. Thus, Shadow was born.

Unfortunately, the government on Earth was afraid of the weapons that Gerald was building. They did not realize that they existed to give Earth a fighting chance when the Black Arms returned. 50 years ago, they sent soldiers in to shut down the project alltogether. Sadly, Maria would not let Shadow be taken away, and sacrificed herself so that Shadow could escape. When she did so, she asked Shadow to give all of the people of the world a chance to be happy. That was where the killer was crossing a line.

If the killer knew about Maria, did that mean that it was someone he knew? Not necessarily, if someone did their research, they could probably find out about her. Still, the possibility existed. Shadow shook this thought off and called the police.

A few minutes later, they were on the scene taking photographs, dusting for fingerprints, the whole nine yards. Officer Sells had learned his lesson about setting up a crime scene quickly from the last killing.

The Chaotix trio was also there. Charmy was buzzing around madly to start looking for the next clue. "Come on! Come on! Let's go, already!"

"Calm down, Charmy. They'll be done in a few minutes," assured Vector.

Officer Sells spoke to Shadow, "I understand that this attack was a bit more personal on you. I just need you to keep your cool and make sure he doesn't get to you."

"If you knew Shadow, Sells, you'd know that he doesn't have much trouble 'keeping his cool,'" said Espio.

"So, Shadow, how did you figure out the riddle?" asked Vector.

"Oh yeah! I couldn't figure it out even though I was thinking about it for 3 hours! How'd you do it, Shadow? Huh? Was it easy after reading it for a while? Did you need help? Di-" again, Charmy was stopped by Espio's interrupting hand.

"Yes, Shadow, how did you figure it out?" he asked.

Shadow looked down. "I didn't figure it out. It was a girl that I met."

He began to feel ashamed of himself. He hadn't done much to contribute, had he? Everyone else was telling him to go home and rest. Worst of all, he had consented to it.

"Cool! Shadow's got a chick friend who can kick that killer's mental butt!" shouted Charmy.

Their conversation was interrupted by one of the CSI team members. "Excuse me, sir, but we've finished our analysis."

"Excellent," remarked Sells, "what have you found?"

"Nothing, sir," said the man, looking uneasy. "Just like the last scene, no fingerprints, no clothing fibers, no fur, nothing. We've determined that the victim was strangled before being given that... mark. No riddle this time, though. Other than that, it's exactly like the last one. Just a body and no story."

This did not convince Shadow. "No, this guy doesn't strike me as the type to break his own rules. Did you check absolutely everywhere for the riddle?"

The man turned to Shadow with a somewhat condescending look. "Yes, I assure you that we were quite thorough."

"What about the victim's clothes?" Shadow asked.

This caught the investigator somewhat off-guard. "Our policy is to leave the body undisturbed with the exception of determining cause of death."

Shadow rolled his eyes and stepped into the crime scene. "Hey! You can't go in there!" shouted the investigator.

Shadow approached the body and got a better look at it. The victim's eyes were closed, his face expressionless. His hands were folded above the bloody 49 as if he were about to be buried at his funeral. 'Sorry I couldn't get here fast enough, but I need to move you a bit,' Shadow silently told the hedgehog in the coffin.

He reached his hand into the coffin down by the victim's side. "Hold it right there, pal! You can't just-" but the man's shouts were interrupted by Shadow reaching into the victim's pants' pocket. Just as he had thought, there was a folded piece of paper inside.

Pulling it out, he told the angry investigator, "We've got bigger things to worry about than 'following policy,' sir."

The investigator simply stood there staring at him angrily. "Uh, good work, Shadow," commented Vector. "Read it to us."

Shadow unfolded the paper and was greeted with the killer's next riddle.

"I have a mouth, but never talk. I always run and never walk. I have a bed, but never have slept. I can be stopped, but I can't be kept," he read.

"Heh, it sounds kinda like you, Shadow," joked Charmy.

Shadow rolled his eyes slightly. "Indeed," said Espio, "it does sound like a good description of you. Before you got so... friendly, I mean."

"Wait, do you mean the killer might just plop the next body right in front of Shadow?" asked Sells.

"Well, it could be. I mean, he never said that Shadow would have a chance to catch him with every riddle," replied Vector.

"Still, Shadow doesn't seem to be that way anymore," said Espio.

"It could be something that has to do with the time that I was that way," suggested Shadow.

From behind the group came and angry, "Hmph." It seemed that the investigator was still aggravated. "No, it doesn't sound like him. This guy is a haughty disrespectful know-it-all who has no concept of respect for the dead."

The other five turned to him with annoyed expressions. "Maybe we should continue this conversation elsewhere," suggested Espio.

"Good idea," said Shadow, "I'll have Rouge get everyone together again so we can talk about it."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean, 'again?'" asked Vector. "Did you guys all meet without us?"

"Aww, why didn't you tell us? We wanted to see everybody again!" whined Charmy.

Shadow shrugged, "I did it so I could explain everything, but you already knew."

"Oh, so just because we knew about it, that means that you can shun us like a bunch of-"

Vector's sarcasm was interrupted by Sells clearing his throat. He pointed to the investigator who was now fuming.

"Uh, see you at Club Rouge at 3?" suggested Shadow.

"Eh, good idea," said Vector nervously.

The three parties left and set off for their various destinations. Shadow's was his apartment. He picked up the phone and immediately called Rouge asking her to call everyone back to the club at 3. She was irritated that he wouldn't explain what had happened, but she would soon find out.

**Um... Thanks for reading. *awkward silence* kthnxbai ('Kay thanks bye)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Guten tag, Internet. Sorry this one took a bit longer than usual, but there were auditions for the school musical and I got a really nice role which I am very excited about. But enough of my excuses, on with the story! Enjoy!**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 5:

By 3 o' clock, all of Shadow's friends had gathered in Club Rouge. Needless to say, all of them were eager to hear an explanation.

"Where was the body?"

"Did you get the killer?"

"What did the riddle mean?"

"What do we do now?"

All of the various inquiries were interrupted by Omega firing a bullet-less round into the air.

"You may begin, Shadow," he said.

Shadow smiled. If there was one friend he could count on no matter what he needed, it was Omega. "Thanks, Omega," he said.

He spent the next few minutes explaining what had happened with some help with filling in gaps from the Chaotix. For now, though, he left Jen out of it. The others would likely jump to conclusions if they heard that there was a new girl in town at the exact same time a murderer was at large. The killer had crossed a line and would pay the price of crossing it.

Knuckles was the first to speak, "Oh, great, another riddle. Because we all know how well that one turned out last time."

"Well, we have to try, Knuckles," said Tails.

Shadow looked at Tails with a small but proud smile. The little fox had grown up a good deal in such a short amount of time. Of course, he was still Sonic's best friend who followed him everywhere, but he had also begun to grow independent. He was showing signs of a good leader who could stand up and take charge when the need came. And with an IQ of his magnitude, they just might defeat the Doctor once and for all with his help one day.

"I have a mouth, but never talk. I always run and never walk. I have a bed, but never have slept. I can be stopped, but I can't be kept," repeated Espio. "We've guessed that the answer is Shadow's old self, but we can't figure out what it means."

The group began to think. No one seemed to disagree that it sounded like Shadow's former demeanor. Unfortunately, they couldn't find a solution, either.

"Is it supposed to mean that Shadow is going to be the scene of the crime?" asked a puzzled Knuckles.

"Aw, don't even go there, man!" said Sonic.

"It could be that way. The guy never said that his game would be fair," said Rouge.

"What if it has something to do with the ARK?" asked Amy.

"I doubt that he has the kind of resources to go all the way up there and back without leaving any traces," said Tails.

"What about the crash site of the Black Comet?" proposed Vector.

There was a pause. Now that he thought about it, Shadow didn't think that that idea was very farfetched. He avoided setting foot in Westopolis for that very reason. But wait...

"No, the targets are all going to be in Station Square. That was part of one of his rules," said Shadow.

"Argh, this is going nowhere!" shouted Knuckles. "I'm surprised that you even got the other riddle in the first place."

The Chaotix looked at Shadow. He paused before saying, "It wasn't me who figured out the riddle."

Now, the whole room turned to face Shadow. "What do you mean, Mr. Shadow?" asked Cream.

"Who was it, then?" asked Rouge.

Before Shadow could explain, Charmy piped up, "It was Shadow's awesome new girlfriend!"

"What? Since when do you have a girlfriend?" asked Amy. By the tone of her voice, it seemed that she was jealous of Shadow choosing a girl while Sonic continued to run away from her.

"She's not my girlfriend," Shadow corrected. "We just, kind of, met, and she solved the riddle."

"Wait, so you just _happen _to meet this new girl just when there's a killer running around?" asked Knuckles, making Shadow's fear realized. He planned on beating the culprit to a pulp when he was caught, so he had hoped it wasn't a girl.

"I don't fully trust her, if that's what you mean," he said.

"Oh, this is getting us nowhere!" shouted Vector.

"Okay, Shadow, I think that it would be okay for you to keep talking to her as long as she can prove somehow that she's not the murderer," reasoned Tails.

"Good idea," said Rouge. "Maybe just keep an eye on her until the next body turns up since the answer is you this time."

"Fine," Shadow said, "but I don't want you to think of her as just some computer that can spit out the answers to some riddles." He had had more than enough experience with being used during his amnesia.

"Of course not," said Amy. "We just want to know if we can trust her."

"Alright, I'll see if I can find her."

With that, Shadow got up. Before he could reach the door, though, Sonic bolted straight through it. Not being able to run for so long had to be torture to him.

As he walked out of the door, the first problem immediately presented itself. Where on Chaos' green Earth was he going to look for her? He didn't have the slightest clue where she lived, where she could normally be found, or even if she lived in Station Square. He sighed. _The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first..._

He took off with minor aid from his jet shoes down the streets of Station Square. The wind rushed through his quills as he rocketed past restaurants, offices, apartments, and angry pedestrians. After 3 hours of searching and angry shouts from bystanders, Shadow decided to take a break. The park was nearby. It seemed as good a place as any to check for her since that was where he had first met her.

Walking down the path and surveying the various oranges, reds, and yellows that the autumn leaves produced, Shadow remembered why he loved nature so much. It was calming to see that many colors in the trees combined with the beautiful colors given off by the setting sun. Still, the problem had not vanished. Just where was she? If his fears were correct, could she be committing the next murder as he was searching?

Wait, could that be her? It was a light brown cat like her jogging along a nearby path. She was wearing a black jacket with black sweatpants. As she came closer, Shadow could see her eyes. The same ocean blue as Jen; it had to be her. To avoid awkwardness, Shadow simply walked to a spot that put him within her line of sight. Thankfully, she recognized him.

"Shadow? Is that you?"

He turned to her as if he hadn't noticed her before and smiled. "Hey, Jen."

She stopped in front of him and gave him an excited smile. "So, did you catch him?"

Shadow's smile faded. "No, I was too late." Jen's smile faded as well. "But your answer was spot on."

Her smile returned, but faintly. "Oh, good."

There was a pause before she asked, "So, did you get another riddle?"

Shadow then remembered why he was searching for her. "Actually, yes," he said. "This time, my friends and I think it's me. As in, I'll be the next scene of the crime."

Jen frowned, "Oh, that's not good," she said.

Shadow hesitated before adding, "And since that's the case, I was thinking that maybe I could... Make sure that I can trust you in the meantime."

Jen looked startled at these words, but not appalled. "Oh yeah, you don't know me, do you? And all of a sudden I'm trying to help you in a life-threatening fix, huh?"

"It's not that I suspect you, it's just that-"

"No, I totally get it. What do you need me to do?"

Shadow was surprised. Normally, he'd think that someone, especially a girl would be offended. Then again, she wasn't a very normal girl, was she?

"Well, I just want to keep an eye on you until... you know."

"Okay, I guess I can do that. I guess since I don't have any lessons tomorrow... Where should we go?"

Shadow thought. "I guess my place would be best. It might not be big, but it'll fit the both of us."

"Alright. Lead the way."

They walked toward Shadow's apartment. Thankfully, the park was fairly close by. Shadow unlocked the door and let her in. "Here we are."

Jen looked around with a comfortable smile on her face. "I like it. It's small, simple, and it has a nice view."

The view she was referring to was that of the park and surrounding area. The room wasn't particularly high up, but it offered a decent enough view.

A thought occurred to Shadow. "I've been thinking, why did you decide to come up to me in the first place?"

She looked down as if she was thinking. Eventually, she shrugged and said, "I don't know. I guess I just thought you looked kind of stressed, and I wanted to help."

When she didn't look back up at him, Shadow guessed that there was more to it than that, but decided to leave the subject alone.

"What did the riddle say, anyway?" she asked.

"I have a mouth, but never talk. I always run and never walk. I have a bed, but never have slept. I can be stopped, but I can't be kept," he recited. "I was pretty... serious for a while. I didn't really enjoy life the way I do now."

Jen giggled. "You think it's funny?" asked Shadow.

"No, Shadow. The riddle doesn't mean you."

Shadow's eyes widened. "What?"

"Shadow, it's a river."

His eyes remained wide and fixed upon her. "What?" he repeated.

"Yeah, you know, a riverbed, the mouth of river, you can dam it up, but you can't keep it, like, in a jar."

Shadow ran for the door. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Stay here," he directed. "There's food in the refrigerator, but do not leave this room."

"O-Okay."

He shut the door behind him and made a mad dash for Club Rouge. This changed things.

**Okie dokie. Thanks to Bakuda for your review. cul8rlig8rs (I should stop putting text acronyms in my chapters, shouldn't I?)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A warm welcome back to the story. I've got some stuff to say and some time to say it. Let's not delay any longer. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 6: First Glimpse

Within 10 minutes, everyone was back at Club Rouge. After Shadow had revealed the riddle's true answer, some had slapped their own foreheads for not seeing it. However, they now knew what the answer meant:

"Station Square River," announced Vector.

"Man, I can't believe I didn't see it!" said Tails.

"Ok, so we've got the place, what are we going to do about it?" asked Rouge.

"It's a pretty broad area. It could mean anything around the river," said Shadow.

"Why couldn't the guy be more specific?" asked an exasperated Knuckles.

"How are we supposed to stop a murder when all we know is that it's associated with a river?" asked Tails.

Omega finally spoke up. "Perhaps some assistance from a professional spy could be of some use."

Everyone's heads turned to Rouge. She gave a smug smirk. "Oh, you're too kind."

"Alright, what do you propose we do, then, Ms. Professional Spy?" asked Knuckles with his arms folded.

Rouge turned to him, her smirk unchanged. "A little time to explain, pushy, and I'll tell you."

"What did you call me?" asked Knuckles, who was going red in the face. Shadow couldn't tell whether it was because he was angry or embarrassed.

"Simmer down, there, Knucklehead," said Sonic.

The closest thing that Shadow could attribute Knuckles' face to, now, was a steaming red vegetable. Needless to say, that vegetable was far from simmering down.

Rouge continued, "As I was saying, I pulled some strings with G.U.N. and was able to get my hands on some recon gear for just such an occasion. We can divide up into teams and watch the whole area."

Charmy shouted excitedly. "Cool! I get to be a spy!"

"Calm down, Charmy," said Espio. "If you want to be a good spy, you've got to learn to be quiet"

Rouge went into one of the back rooms and returned a moment later with a very large briefcase. When she opened it, Shadow could see a number of devices useful in a reconnaissance mission. There were several radios, cameras, monitors, camera and microphone disguises, and even a sniper rifle. Shadow doubted that it would be used for this stake-out, but it may come up later.

Rouge handed them each a microphone. Most of them would be hidden within the clothing that they would be wearing. However, Tails' and Rouge's were not disguised. Theirs would be headsets because they would be operating the cameras in a nearby building with Omega.

Each person was assigned a different persona to use while secretly watching for activity. Amy, Cream, and Charmy would be a group of bickering siblings walking around the North side of the river walk while their parents were working overtime. Vector, Espio, and Knuckles would be watching the South side as a group of living statue street performers. Shadow and Sonic, however, would not be disguised. They would be running up and down either side of the river pretending to be racing. Their job was to be ready for a verbal signal from Rouge that would tell them where they were needed.

Everyone received a minuscule earphone with which they would receive orders, distress signals, or anything else.

Next came the disguises. They came from Rouge's wardrobe as she had to wear many disguises when in the field. Amy and Cream wore white blouses with plaid skirts and black sweater-vests. With Charmy in a white button-down shirt, a navy tie, and black pants, they each gave the impression of schoolchildren who had not come home yet. Espio, Vector, and Knuckles were each given white robes and painted white to make them look like misplaced Renaissance statues. Shadow guessed that she had been in some interesting situations to need white robes as a disguise.

By 8 PM, everyone was in position. Rouge, Omega, and Tails were in an abandoned warehouse near the mouth where the river came from Station Square Harbor. Amy, Charmy, and Cream were walking on the far side leading to Westopolis getting into fake arguments. Vector, Espio, and Knuckles were holding various humorous poses to the enjoyment of the passerbys.

Sonic and Shadow were on either side of the river at the mouth. This would be the first time that the two had raced in a few weeks. Sonic was stretching his legs while Shadow simply stood with his arms folded.

"Alright!" said Sonic, "I told you I'd get that race!"

Shadow didn't respond. He was too busy looking for any suspicious activity. He wanted to be the first to get a crack at the killer for bringing an innocent dead girl into this. If the killer turned out to be a girl... he'd make sure she was locked up for a very long time.

"Ready to lose, Shadow?" asked Sonic.

He turned to look at Sonic. "No."

Shadow took off down the side of the river before Sonic could retort, but Sonic wasn't far behind him. Soon the two were in the familiar position of neck-and-neck. Shadow's eyes were darting from left-to-right looking for any sign of a murder. Sonic, however, was having far too much fun to be brought down by the thought of a killer. Rouge's voice soon came in on the team's earphones. "Stay focused, Sonic. Any activity, anyone?"

Amy's voice came on together with fake bickering from Cream and Charmy. "Nothing yet, but we're still looking."

Vector was almost too quiet to hear when he whispered, "Nada."

Shadow replied, "Nothing worth reporting."

"Okay," said Tails. "Surveillance is looking good, but we've got something going on on 34th street. Amy, Charmy, Cream, could you go check that out?"

Charmy replied rather loudly, "Roger, over and out!"

There was a short 'bonk' sort of sound which Shadow made out to be Amy smacking him on the head.

Before long, Sonic and Shadow had reached the end of the city. "Let's turn around and go back once we clear the city limits," suggested Shadow through the microphone.

"Roger dodger," was Sonic's response.

When they turned around, Amy's voice came on. "This is Amy, we're at 34th street and it looks like that thing you told us about was a crowd around a magician doing card tricks. No suspicious activity that I can see."

Tails' voice responded, "Alright, thanks. Try to make a cycle around Scarlet Avenue and Fleet Street (A.N: sorry, I just love that musical so much)."

"Okay," replied Cream.

This sort of cycle went on for 3 hours. Tails and Rouge would pick up some sort of activity, someone would have to change position, and it would turn out to be completely harmless. Shadow was becoming more bored and aggravated by the minute. Finally, Rouge's voice came over with something real to report. "Okay, you two. I think that's enough. Come back to the harbor, and you'll be done."

Sonic gave a loud yawn into his microphone. "Aw, come on! I'm not tired. I could do this all night."

Thankfully, Tails talked some sense into him. "It's not that we think that you're tired, Sonic. We just think you might be scaring the killer. If you lay low for a few minutes, maybe he'll come out."

Shadow gave a sigh of relief. Racing against Sonic for three hours while hearing nothing but 'it's nothing dangerous' left him longing for a break. The two finished at the mouth of the river and began walking towards the warehouse that Rouge and Tails were in. Then a complication arose: Sonic was on the opposite side of the river.

The blue hedgehog's inability to swim left him standing apprehensively on the banks on the other side. "Uh..." he said nervously.

Tails instructed him, "There's a crossing back in town. You can get to the other side there."

"Thanks, buddy!" said Sonic, taking off towards the city.

Shadow began walking back when something stopped him dead in his tracks.

His phone was ringing.

He barely had to glance at the number to know who it was.

"Hello again, Shadow. Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Shadow scowled. "We'll see just how beautiful it is when I find you."

Rouge's voice came through his other ear. "Shadow? Is that the killer? Hang on! We'll try to get his signal!"

But the killer was prepared. "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Certain 'accidents' may occur."

Shadow said into his microphone, "Don't! You'll only make things worse."

Shadow heard nothing else from Rouge.

"Much better," said the killer. "Now if you would be so kind as to remove your microphone and earphone."

Shadow did so and dropped them on the ground. "Excellent," rang the killer's modified voice. "Step into the warehouse right in front of you. I have a surprise for you."

Shadow stomped up to the warehouse and kicked down the rusting metal door.

"My, my, aren't we the angry one?"

As he stepped inside, Shadow could see nothing but darkness. Luckily, he had come prepared. He pulled out the green Chaos Emerald that he kept on his person.

One of seven, this emerald contained nearly unlimited amounts of power. It gave off a cold green glow that lit up the whole room.

He saw that most of the large room was empty but for a pair of staircases on either side leading up the second floor. The room was almost entirely concrete but for the brick walk behind him. It was incredibly dusty with some squares on the floor which Shadow guessed were where crates had been. He could smell hints of mold and surmised that this place had been abandoned for a very long time.

"Go up the staircase to your left and turn left at the top of the steps," the killer instructed.

Shadow began to walk slowly toward the staircase to his left. He would not be afraid of some mad dog who made idiotic threats. When he reached the foot of the steps, he thought he saw the shadow of a figure move away. Now was his chance.

He walked a bit more briskly up the stairs and turned left as he reached the second floor. The room seemed to have been completely abandoned until now. There was a large and completely broken window, and, in front of it, stood the silhouette of the killer.

"I just needed to see you in person once." The killer was still disguising his voice with some sort of modified muzzle.

Before Shadow could lunge for him, the killer turned around and jumped through what used to be the window. Shadow bolted across the room and saw the killer's figure disappear behind one of the other buildings. He was about to run after him when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

There was a large wooden sailboat floating down the river. Its passengers were slumped over with a liquid oozing from their torsos. He looked at the stern of the ship where its title was supposed to be.

Instead, painted in blood, it read, 'S.S. Bloody Murder'

**Ouch. That's gotta hurt. Anyway, thanks to the people who gave me reviews, you know who you are. See you guys next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Salutations, Internet. First of all, thank you to incinirmatt, avatar-moonlight-100, misc-13, and DemonOfLight69696 for your reviews. All of you guys are so nice ^^. Still, if there's something that you think I should be doing differently, let me know. I'll try to fit it in if it doesn't screw with my original plan too much. Now then, on with the show! Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 7: Cleaning Up

Shadow couldn't believe his eyes. He had missed them. There was a boat full of victims floating down the river, and the killer had gotten away.

He cursed the killer for doing these things and himself for being so reckless. Then he jumped back down to the ground in front of him and pulled out his chaos emerald. "Chaos control," he said.

The familiar sensation of transcending space and time enveloped him. Shadow and very few others possessed the power to control the chaos within the emeralds to create a temporary bridge of order. When this order was created, the controller had the power to stop time or simply warp to a different location. For this, Shadow chose the latter.

Once he was onboard the ship, he noticed something very wrong. There were six bodies instead of just one! They were each numbered from 48 to 43 and bathed in puddles of their own blood. Shadow was disgusted at the sight and even more outraged at the one responsible.

The body numbered 46 was a tall thin human man drooped over the steering wheel. Shadow carefully removed his body and laid it flat on the deck. He then took the wheel and steered the boat toward the side of the river which the others would be on.

When the boat reached the banks, Shadow removed the body of number 47, a teenaged female rabbit, from on top of the anchor and dropped the anchor into the river. Soon enough, everyone was running toward him.

"Oh no!" shouted Amy.

Cream turned away and began bawling.

"Shadow! Are you alright?" shouted Rouge.

Shadow jumped down to the ground and walked towards them in answer.

"What happened here?" asked Knuckles.

"We lost you after you told us not to trace his signal," said Tails. "What did he do?"

"This," Shadow answered in a frustrated tone, pointing at the boat behind him.

"What did he make you do?" asked Vector.

"He told me to take out my microphone and earphone and go into one of those warehouses. Like a fool, I did what he said."

"What happened in there?" asked Rouge.

Shadow scowled and closed his eyes. "I saw him."

Everyone turned to stare at him, mouths agape. "What?" asked Knuckles.

"I went up one of the staircases, and he was there in front of a broken window. I could only see his outline, and he was still disguising his voice. He jumped out of the window, and, before I could stop him, he was gone and this _thing _was floating down the river."

Their stares were unbroken, and Shadow matched them, but with an angry glare. Finally, Espio spoke up. "We should call the police so we can get these bodies of that boat."

Slowly, the others consented. Minutes later, the police were on the scene once again. As per the last scene, they were looking around the boat, taking samples, photographs, anything they could find. Sells was there, but thankfully, the other investigator was not.

"How could we have let this happen?" asked Sells. "I can't believe we just let this slip right under our noses."

Sonic stepped in to cheer him up. "Aw, don't sweat it, chief. We'll get him next time."

Sells shook him off. "I'm not the chief, I'm barely a sergeant. And don't talk to me about 'next time', I have had enough of that garbage from back in the old days."

Sonic folded his hands behind his head and walked away. "Touchy," he said, under his breath.

Shadow, however, was glaring at the boat. He wanted to get straight down to business and find out why there was more than one body on that boat. He would find out one way or another.

Suddenly, as if it were a sadistic answer to a troubled prayer, Shadow's phone rang again. Without even looking at the number, he put the phone up to his ear.

"I almost forgot to call you about the boat because i was so excited," said the voice. "Silly me."

"Shut up," said Shadow sharply. "Why are there six bodies on there instead of one?"

"I don't know what you mean, Shadow. The rules don't say that I can't kill off more than one person at once. I just have to give you a clue with each body. Consider this a bonus round."

Shadow became furious. "What twisted demon possessed you to treat this like a game?"

Some form of chuckle emitted from the phone. "Which one, indeed?"

The line went dead. Shadow closed his phone as calmly as he possibly could. No matter what, he had to keep the killer from getting to him.

Soon enough, the investigators were finished. Each of the victims had apparently been given their numbers while they were still alive. 'Does his depravity know no bounds?' asked Shadow silently.

The heroes jumped onboard and noticed that all of the blood had been cleaned up. Good, they didn't need Cream or Charmy being emotionally scarred. Next, they began looking for the clues. This time, the investigators had searched the victims' clothes, but had found nothing. Now, it was their turn. There would be six clues this time, so it would be easier to stumble onto something.

A few minutes later, Amy announced that she had found something. Hidden in one of the pegs on the steering wheel was another piece of paper, but this one only had one word on it. It read, 'building'.

"Oh, that's real specific," commented Knuckles, sarcastically.

"Wait," said Omega. "It appears that the two sides of this paper have been cut. Perhaps there is more to this riddle."

When Shadow looked closer, he saw that Omega was right. Even though the sides were straight, there were still slight notches indicating a rushed cut.

"Spread out again, everybody," instructed Tails.

A few minutes later, the next word was found: 'most'.

"Is that it?" asked Cream.

"No," said Shadow. "There are four more, one for each... victim."

The next hour yielded the next three words: 'Which', 'has', and 'the'. There was only one word left. Everyone searched with renewed vigor to find the last word. This one was better hidden than the rest. Finally, Knuckles became so frustrated that he punched open the upper deck. Thankfully, the final piece was waiting underneath the floorboards.

'stories?' it read. Finally, all of the words were assembled. After some rearranging, it finally read, 'Which building has the most stories?'

"Easy!" said Knuckles. "The Horizon Tower! It's the tallest building in Station Square. Man, this one's a breeze."

Tails responded, "I don't know. It seems a little too simple for this guy. Remember, the 'bed' from the last one meant a riverbed."

Cream added on, "So is it like a story in a storybook?"

"That's it!" shouted Amy. "A book! The building with the most stories! It's Station Square Library!"

Everyone else began smiling or congratulating Cream. Shadow, however, began walking away.

"Shadow, where are you going?" asked Rouge.

"Mr. Shadow, are you mad at us?" asked Cream.

Shadow sighed and spoke without turning around. "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at myself."

"What are you talkin' about?" asked Sonic.

"I made a promise," said Shadow. "I promised her that I would give them a chance to be happy; to live their dreams."

He turned back around to face them. "And if I can't stop this lunatic, then I've failed Maria. I will find him and lock him away until that voice processor of his gets rusted beyond repair. No matter what, he will fail."

Everyone smiled at him. Rouge stepped forward to speak. "Well, you can count us in. We're with you all the way, Shadow." The others nodded and Shadow gave a small smile.

Charmy yawned. "Aw man, I'm pushed. Can I go to bed, now?"

Suddenly, Shadow remembered. He had left Jen all alone in his apartment. "Go ahead. I need to get back home, too."

"What for?" asked Knuckles.

Shadow cleared his throat. "I left Jen there. She's been waiting for me this whole time."

Sonic stifled laughter with difficulty. "Smooth move there, Shad."

Shadow gave him a mild glare. He did not take well to his new nickname.

"Well, go on!" said Amy. "Rule number one of dating: don't keep your girl waiting."

Shadow rolled his eyes and sighed. 'No wonder he runs away from her,' he thought. With that, he turned and took off for his home. The streets were nearly deserted, so he could make better use of his jet shoes.

He made a quick stop in front of Station Square Library to make sure that the killer hadn't gotten an early start. Something had shifted behind one of the corners of the building. When Shadow went to investigate, he found it to be only a magazine blowing in the wind. 'I must be getting paranoid,' he thought.

By the time he reached his apartment, it was already 1 AM. The lights were still on, though. When he entered, he saw that Jen was collapsed on his bed and there was a note on his desk. She wasn't using the blankets; that much made sense because of her... interesting behavior. He walked as quietly as he could to it and read it.

'Dear Shadow,

Thanks for letting me use your bed. :) I didn't eat any of your stuff. I wasn't hungry, and I figured we could get breakfast together in the morning. Don't worry about keeping me waiting; I just expect to hear what happened in the morning. Hope you got the bad guy!

Jen'

Shadow smiled softly, then went and turned off the lights. He stood by the window and looked out at the park at night. The streetlights along with the trees cast long shadows over the patches of grass. There was a killer hidden somewhere in a shadow much like those, and Shadow had taken it upon himself to catch him.

'No matter what, I will find you,' thought Shadow.

He could almost hear the killer's voice whisper in his ear, "I'd love to see you try."

**Ok, that takes care of that (three points to whoever caught the Sherlock Holmes reference). Fair Warning: I might not get the next chapter up for a few more days than usual because I'll be out of town. Still, I might be able to get something done. Btw, since I'm Texas born and raised, Rangers FTW this year for the world series! (I don't really follow sports, but we haven't done this well in years!) Okie dokie. Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm baaaaaaack. Thanks for being so patient, but it was necessary. Congrats to the San Francisco Giants for winning the World Series, and to the Texas Rangers for making it to the World Series for the first time. Let's not waste any more time, then. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 8: Familiarity Breeds...

The sun peeked over the horizon. Through the window, Shadow could see so many reds, oranges, blues, purples, and other colors that he couldn't even describe. One thing he missed about having a night job was watching the sunrise. He couldn't even watch the sunset from his bar.

Maria certainly loved the sunrise. She loved watching its life-giving rays spread across the planet. She said it was like a big blanket tucking the planet in. In those days, Shadow was not quite as appreciative of it, since he was sometimes able to see it twice in one day. Still, he was never able to deny that it was beautiful.

He turned around to look back at Jen. She was still collapsed on his bed, just as she had been since he had returned. There was no denying that she was a lot different from any other girl he had seen. Her mood changed fairly quickly, and she was willing to stay with someone she had only met twice.

Shadow thought back to the time when he put his trust in others fairly easily. He smiled. Maybe she was a little bit lost, too.

Looking to the clock on the nearby desk, he saw that it was 7:30 AM. He didn't know when to expect her to wake up again, since he didn't know when she fell asleep.

Her chest slowly rose and fell in a steady beat. A thought occurred to Shadow. What if she really was the killer? He had been forced to leave her alone to look for the killer, and the fact that she had collapsed on the bed like that... No, innocent until proven guilty.

Shadow decided it best to shake these thoughts off and look back out of the window. The sun's bright rays hit his eyes and he squinted slightly. Apparently, his... lineage had given his eyes a preference, and even heightening, in the dark. However, since he had grown up on the ARK, he was more accustomed to bright electric lights and the sunlight. 'If that's the case,' thought Shadow, 'why couldn't I see his face last night?'

For the next hour, this thought was replaced with trivial things from his past. He remembered some of the games he used to play with Maria, the combat training that he had received to fight the Black Arms. Once, he had accidentally hurt Maria. She forgave him for it after some bandaging, but he refused to forgive himself. It had taken five days before Shadow could work up the courage to even see her again.

Finally, he heard a small groan from behind him. Jen had woken up at last. She lifted herself into a sitting position. "Morning," she said with a smile.

He smiled back, "Good morning."

She leaned forward. "So, how did it go?" she asked eagerly.

Shadow looked down in shame. "He got away."

Jen raised a fist and pounded the mattress lightly. "Rats!"

Shadow sighed and looked back out of the window.

"What happened?" she asked.

For the next few minutes, he explained what had transpired. She seemed particularly shocked at the ship's mock name, 'S.S. Bloody Murder.' "Man, and we were so close!"

Then, Shadow remembered her note. "You said that you wanted to get breakfast with me?"

She looked back up and smiled brightly. It seemed that she was as keen to a subject change as he was. "Yeah! I know this great place on Salazar Street."

He smiled back. "Shall we go, then?"

After a bit of hair-combing, and clothing changes, they were. They exited the apartment and began walking toward Salazar Street. Shadow was dressed in a white t-shirt and dark pants while Jen had a sleeveless purple shirt and jeans which had been left behind by Rouge for 'emergencies'.

"So Shadow, do you have a job?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm a bartender at Club Rouge."

"Oh, cool! Can you do any of those cool tricks?"

He smiled. "I've been working on a few. What about you? Do you have a job?"

She seemed less excited when she replied, "No, I take a few lessons from a private tutor, though. Hopefully, I can become a composer."

"A composer?" he asked. "What makes you want to do that?"

Again, her enthusiasm waned. "I just like music. So did you have a job before that one?"

"Yeah, I worked for G.U.N."

Her reaction was not too different from what he had expected it to be. "Seriously? You're an agent?"

"Was," he corrected. "I resigned not too long after I got the job."

"Oh, really? Why is that?"

He cleared his throat. "I don't like to talk about it."

She gave him another smile. "No problem. So who do you work for now?"

"Rouge the Bat. She's been one of my best friends for a while."

She came a bit closer to him. "So do you have a _best _friend?"

Shadow gave an uncomfortable smile. "Yes, I think I do."

"Ooh, who is it?"

He gave a small pause. "E-123 Omega."

She paused as if trying to register what he just said. "You mean... you're in a fraternity?"

He chuckled. "No, I mean the last of the E-series robots commissioned by Dr. Ivo Robotnik a.k.a. Dr. Eggman."

This time, she stopped walking altogether and stared at him. "Y-You work for Eggman?"

"No," he said. "Omega is a defective unit. We were both found by Rouge and have been friends ever since."

She seemed to relax a bit, though she was still a bit unnerved that he was best friends with an ex- Eggman robot.

"So did you ever actually meet Dr. Eggman?"

He paused. "Yes, he's the one who woke me up."

She looked very puzzled. "Woke you up? What do you mea-"

Suddenly she stopped. Her eyes widened considerably. "Shadow. You mean you're _the _Shadow? The Shadow that defeated the Black Comet aliens? Shadow the Hedgehog?"

He smirked at her. "The very same."

She put her hand to her forehead. "Whoa. That's... something."

Shadow turned to look at her. "Do you think differently about me, now?

Jen paused then looked back up at him. "Well, no. But you could have told me that you saved the world twice."

He shrugged. "I didn't find it necessary."

"So you don't find it necessary to tell someone that you let sleep in your apartment that you're a hero-"

"Is this the place?" Shadow asked, interrupting her. They had arrived at a small cafe at 152 Salazar Street. There was a sign above it that read 'Blaze's Cafe.'

Her eyes brightened. "Yeah! This is it." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill. "Could you get me a nonfat soy latte?"

He smiled and produced his own ten-dollar bill. "I'll take care of it." Rouge had taught him long ago that the man always paid for the woman's things, especially when the two were eating.

A small bell rang as Shadow walked into the coffee shop. The place was fairly contemporary, with plenty of black and brown and curvaceous surfaces. There were several tables at which sat various humans and Mobians reading newspapers, typing on laptops, and sipping coffee. On the other side of the room, there was a cashier's desk and a window to the kitchen behind it.

"Good morning," called the cashier. She was a purple cat with white fur. Her hair was tied into somewhat of a ponytail that stuck straight up from her head, and a red jewel shone on her forehead. She was dressed in a brown t-shirt with black pants and a light brown visor. Unlike Jen, her fur was a bit more sharp and cornered. Whereas Jen's was more rounded and smooth.

Shadow walked up to the counter. "I'd like a nonfat soy latte and an orange juice."

She tapped at some of the keys on the cash register. "Okay, that's $5.61."

He handed her his ten dollars and received his change. "Thanks, it'll be right out," she said, printing out the order on a small piece of paper. She walked to the window with the order. "Silver, new order," she called. Surprisingly, Shadow didn't see whoever this 'Silver' was come to take the paper. It appeared to just slip into the other room. Maybe this 'Silver' person wasn't exactly tall. He shrugged and sat down at one of the nearby tables.

As he looked at the walls, he noticed something. Whoever the owner of this place was certainly had an affinity for fire. All around the room, there were several etchings and paintings of flames. No wonder it was called Blaze's Cafe.

"Nonfat soy latte and orange juice!" called the cashier. Shadow was amazed. They certainly had fast service here, too. Shadow came and took the coffee cup and orange juice. "Thanks, come again," said the cashier.

Shadow took out three dollars from the change. "My compliments to your friend back there."

She giggled. "Thanks, he'll appreciate it."

He walked out of the door as the cashier called, "Hey Silver! You got a tip!"

Jen was waiting on the street corner. "Fast service, huh?" she said, smiling.

Shadow handed her the coffee. "I doubt that even Sonic could have made it that quickly."

"What's Sonic like?" she asked taking a sip of her latte.

"Hmph," said Shadow, taking a swig from his own plastic cup. "He's respectable but torturously annoying."

Jen giggled. "That bad, huh?"

"Like a sugar rush on steroids mixed with meth, especially when talking about himself."

She laughed and almost spit out her coffee. "Nice. So do you see him very often?"

"Yes. He lives here in the city. You just never see him because he's always running."

"Oh, cool. So... how old are you?"

Shadow shrugged. "More than fifty. It's hard to tell without anything to go off of besides slowly returning memories-"

His explanation was cut short by his cell phone ringing. No! Not here! Not now! They had figured out where it was this time!

Thankfully, the name Rouge appeared on the screen. He excused himself and opened up the phone. "What is it?" he asked.

"We're having a meeting in ten minutes. We need to get a game plan."

"Alright. I'll be right there."

"See you."

He closed his phone and turned to Jen who was nearly finished with her coffee. "I'm sorry, but I need to leave. You can go home now."

She seemed disappointed. "Oh okay. I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Okay."

He began to walk away when she ran after him. "Wait! I want to give you my address so you know where to find me."

She downed the rest of her coffee, took out a pen, and wrote it on the cup. Then, she tore that portion off of the paper cup and handed it to Shadow. "Thanks," he said, and took off for Club Rouge.

This had better be good.

**That's right. Blaze and Silver are in my story. Are they here for the same reason as before? Or does something else motivate them? Does The Countdown have worse consequences than anyone could have imagined? The answer...**

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**...I'm not telling. See you guys later!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again, peeps. Gee, it sure is quiet around here. Am I doing it right or not, people? Is the pacing too slow? Too fast? I'd like to know, please. Lol, jk. I guess I'm just a little disappointed that I haven't gotten any reviews about the past two chapters, and I hadn't written a chapter that wasn't reviewed. Don't feel obligated to review me, though. I just like some feedback. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 9: Rolling and Teary Eyes

Shadow skidded to a stop in front of his workplace. He was slightly irritated that he was interrupted in his time with Jen, but the prospect of catching the killer renewed his enthusiasm.

As he walked in the front door, he saw that almost everyone was there except for... "Where are the Chaotix?" he asked.

"They had a bit of trouble with the police," said Rouge. "Apparently, the bumbling bee was driving them, and they crashed into a tree. Nobody's hurt too badly, though."

Shadow rolled his eyes. Had he commented on it in the past, he would have said, "Called it."

A few minutes later, the trio arrived. Charmy seemed completely unscathed as Vector had several large bandages, and Espio had his arm in a cast. Espio looked as if his perpetual cool nature was about to expire.

"I apologize for our lateness," the chameleon said through gritted teeth. "Shall we continue?"

"Yes," said Shadow. "I believe that we shall."

Rouge turned her head toward Shadow. "Aren't you usually asleep at this hour? Why didn't you answer your home phone?"

He braced himself for a teasing. "If you must know, was having breakfast with Jen."

The teasing came from Sonic first. "Ooh, breakfast! Was this before or after you two made out?"

Shadow turned to Sonic with a warning look on his face. Unfortunately, Charmy was undeterred. "Ew! You didn't do it in public, did you?"

Shadow simply pinched the space between his eyes (A.N: I couldn't really say 'bridge of his nose') and closed his eyes in irritation.

Knuckles changed the direction of the subject, but not positively. "What were you doing? We still don't know if we can trust her!"

Amy interceded. "Maybe he was making sure that he _could _trust her, Knuckles!" She folded her arms. "Do you _have _to make sure that Shadow can't have a girlfriend?"

Shadow became more and more irritated by the moment. They simply would not let the subject drop. Their pointless banter continued for hours. Had they not come together to discuss how they were going to stop the homicidal maniac? When he attempted to communicate this to the others, Amy interrupted him. "No, Shadow. You don't have to explain anything to these insensitive brutes!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. Then he remembered that Omega was standing patiently beside all of them. He arose from his chair and approached the walking arsenal. "Omega. It doesn't look like this is going to stop for a while. Could you take them into the other room while I open up the club?"

Omega's head turned to him. "Affirmative. Shall I return when they are ready to abandon these trivial topics?"

Shadow nodded. "Thank you."

Omega's chest opened up and a device not unlike a small radio came out. Shadow plugged his ears with his fingers in preparation for what the device was about to do. The robot's eyes

turned to Shadow who nodded in answer.

The device lit up and began vibrating. It was called a Will Enforcer. Its purpose was to send a signal that would cause the victim to obey the user's commands without the victim being aware.

It was a partial failure as it was intended to make Sonic surrender to the Doctor in battle. Even that powerful of a device was not powerful enough to cause such a thing. Apparently, it was not able to enforce any command on the victim that would put them in severe danger. This prospect, however, was not dangerous at all.

Slowly, the device worked its magic causing the arguing Mobians to get up and walk into the basement. They didn't even seem to notice as they continued to argue with their eyes locked.

When Omega walked down the steps, Shadow sighed with relief and began preparing to open the club.

The large room consisted mainly of a large wooden dance floor and surrounding elevated flooring of black concrete. The higher area contained the restrooms, doors to the back rooms, and, of course, Shadow's bar. The walls were black with a few large neon pink hearts painted on them. Shadow was allowed to choose his own workstation's paintjob. He had chosen a red pattern liken to barbed wire. Knuckles' DJ station was on the stage on the far side of the room. Occasionally, the stage was used for musical acts and other entertainment events. The echidna had chosen a greenish motif similar to his Master Emerald. At the station, there was a small monitor which he could use to check upon the Emerald's safety.

Shadow walked across the black concrete floor to the door. He replaced the 'Closed' sign with a 'Bar Open' sign. As he walked to his bar, he heard the door open. So early? He looked at the clock over the bar. It was only 2 PM. Whoever it was must have had a hard day.

The ebony hedgehog jumped over the bar, ready to satisfy the customer. However, he was greeted with a face that he had seriously doubted to see there: Jen.

"Hey there!" she said, taking a seat.

He looked back at her with a confused look on his face. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I just wanted to talk to you again. Plus I had some time to kill before my next lesson."

Shadow smiled. "I'm flattered."

She smiled back. "One thing has been kind of tugging at my head, though. I read something that said that you were the Ultimate Life form. What does that mean, exactly?"

He began to remember the Professor's explanation. "It means that I can't die, except if someone deliberately kills me. I do not have a requirement for food, sleep, or water, but they make life much more... tolerable. I can experience withdrawal symptoms such as hunger or thirst, but they affect me much less than normal people. Also, my body can survive in extreme temperatures; survive being the keyword. I still feel their effects. Finally, I basically enjoy eternal youth when my body reaches full maturity when I reach twenty-five years of age."

Jen looked thoroughly confused. A thousand questions seemed to be swimming in her eyes. Finally, she picked one to ask him. "I thought you said you were more than fifty years old! Didn't you already hit twenty-five?"

He paused for a moment. "After the... 'incident' fifty years ago, I was placed in suspended animation which halted my body's maturing. When I reach full maturity, I will probably be able to calculate my date of creation by subtracting fifty years from that date." He smirked. "I'll finally know when my birthday is."

She gave a small giggle. Another question came. She seemed to have had to think before asking this one. "Can you get sick?"

"Yes," he replied. "But the symptoms are extremely mild because of my superior immune system. Influenza is little more than a case of the sniffles to me."

"Hmph," she said, folding her arms. "You have a lot going for you, huh? Life's gotta be a breeze."

Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly. "If you'd call people looking at you like a freak when you walk by, your only friend dying because the military is afraid of you, being in suspended animation for an indefinite period of time, having an incomplete memory that makes you the ultimate sociopath, realizing that you made the worst mistake of your life, coming extremely close to death, being put in suspended animation again, not remembering anything except for the image of a girl being murdered right before your eyes when you wake up, and finding out that you have the same DNA as an evil alien warlord a breeze, then yes. My life was a complete breeze."

Her eyes were wide open. There was a long pause. Slowly, she began to look down in shame. "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't know."

He sighed. "I suppose that you do now. What's said is said."

She gave a slight nod. After what seemed like hours, Shadow came to the conclusion that it would have to be him to start the conversation back up again. "I am sorry. I should not have been so critical with you."

"No," she said. "I should have been more sensitive. I guess that I was just so... mad at you for seeming to be so... invincible."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She slowly lifted her head, her ocean blue eyes brimming with tears. "My parents are dead. They were killed by meningitis that spread from my mother because of her..." She broke into sobs. "...her deficient immune system."

Shadow felt pity for her. So she knew what it was like to lose her loved ones as well. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

After a while, she raised her head, smiling at him. "Could you make a vodka martini?"

He smiled and nodded, then began to gather the needed materials. "Who are you living with now?" he asked.

"My tutor," she replied. "He was my godfather, and he took me in when my parents died. They died when I was seven, and I've been living with him and looking for a job ever since."

"What does he tutor you in?" he asked.

"Music, mostly," she said. The drain of enthusiasm that normally occurred when talking about herself seemed to be thinning. "I know how to play seven instruments."

"Impressive," he remarked. "Which ones?"

"Well, piano, of course, then violin, cello, guitar, flute, saxophone, and... oh no!" She gasped.

"What is it?" he asked, placing her finished martini on the bar.

"I just remembered! I have a trumpet lesson in ten minutes!"

She got up from the bar and ran for the door. "Wait!" Shadow called. "What about your drink?"

She opened the door and turned around, smiling. "I didn't order it for me."

Shadow smiled as she ran out of the door. 'She's certainly a strange one,' he thought, taking a sip of the drink.

As soon as he finished cleaning, the door of the basement. The 'prisoners' came out looking extremely ticked. He had some 'splaining to do.

**Alright. Thanks for the read. Ciao.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Greetings, Internet. Sorry this one took a bit longer. I believe I have experienced writer's block. Next one should be on time, though. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 10: Best Laid Plans

The basement door burst open. An extremely irritated echidna began stomping angrily toward Shadow. When he had crossed the floor to reach Shadow's bar, he slammed his palms onto it. "PUT ME IN A BASEMENT, WILL YOU?"

Shadow began cleaning a glass with a cloth. "If you are going to argue about my private life while there is a murderer on the loose, yes. I most certainly will."

Knuckles closed his eyes in suppressed rage. "I want to make sure that we can trust her because she could be the key to catching this guy."

Once again, Amy interjected. "Oh, so she's a key now, is she? Well how would you like it if I just called you a-"

She was interrupted by Omega firing another bullet-less round into the air. "This unit's patience is nearing its end. Our objective is to assist Shadow in apprehending a felon. Further distraction will result in incapacitation and removal from the premises."

The android ushered the others out of the basement. "Omega is right," said Tails. "We can worry about her later. Right now, we need to focus on the library."

All of the others gathered around the bar. Some sat, some stood. "Right," said Shadow. "I checked the place last night. There weren't any signs of a killer."

"Aw, man," said Sonic. "I wish we could just go trounce that guy and be done with it. I almost wish Eggman did it."

"No," said Rouge. "I think we can safely say that it's not Eggboy. He's too loud and big-picture to be doing this sort of thing."

"Okay," said Espio. "What should we do about the library? Should we set up surveillance again?"

"It looks like that's all that we can do at this point," said Tails. "We might also consider closing the library for a while."

"No," said Vector. "He'll just wait until it opens back up or find the place with the next most books."

"So what should we do to make sure that no one gets killed?" asked Rouge.

There was a long pause. Everyone seemed to be thinking very hard about this. Even if they knew where it was, how were they going to stop someone from killing someone else and getting away?

"Wait," said Tails. "What if we posed as library staff, then made sure that we had pictures of everyone who came in? That way, even if it was timed or something, we could round up everyone who was there that day."

"Good idea," said Knuckles. "But how do we know who did it if it doesn't show up on the cameras?"

"Easy," said Rouge. "We'll have specific blind spots in the cameras. If any of the people never go into one of them, they're home free. The rest of them will be questioned by G.U.N. interrogators. Even if they don't talk, those guys can tell the way someone thinks by the way that they speak. If one shows the signs of a murderer, boom. We have our man."

"Interesting," retorted Knuckles. "And just who might these interrogators be?"

Rouge got up from her barstool with a sly grin on her face. She walked behind the bar and put her arm around Shadow. "Why, us. Of course."

Shadow smirked. Apart from being field agents, Shadow and Rouge had also done several interrogations together. If there was a prisoner who they needed to crack, Shadow and Rouge were their mallets. Their good-cop-bad-cop routine worked wonders. Sometimes, Shadow quite enjoyed being the bad cop.

"You two?" asked Sonic with suppressed laughter. "What are you gonna do, Shad? Glare at me angrily?"

Shadow looked at Rouge, still smirking. She returned his grin and nodded.

"Level 3?" asked Shadow.

"Nah," said Rouge. "He'll barely make it through level 4. Let's go with that."

Shadow sneered. Level 4 was good too.

Without a warning, Rouge front-flipped over the bar and restrained Sonic with his arms behind his back.

"Hey! What are you do-"

Shadow interrupted the struggling blue hedgehog by using a Chaos Paralysis on his legs. He had learned the trick by experimenting with Chaos Control. He found that he could focus a Chaos Control to stop time in specific points in the victim's spinal chord. Though it took quite a toll on his energy, he was able to paralyze any part of their body. For Sonic, he chose the blue one's most formidable weapons: his legs. The azure hedgehog was now on his knees on the floor with Rouge bending his arms painfully behind his back.

"What's going on? Why can't I move my-?"

"Shut up!" shouted Shadow. "Until you have learned your lesson, you are now a low-level felon prepped for mild interrogation. We will go easy on you for now."

The others were staring with wide eyes. The statement about going easy on him had calmed them a bit, but still, this was Sonic.

"Oh yeah?" asked Sonic, slightly wincing from the pain of the ivory bat tugging at his arms. "Show me what you've got."

Shadow smirked. "You are a low-level prisoner. I am not authorized to bring enough harm to you to cause a long-term injury unless you give me too much trouble."

"Ooh, I'm shaking."

Rouge brought her face to Sonic's ear. "I wouldn't try his patience if I were you, green-eyes. I've seen him do some pretty painful stuff." She whispered in his ear, "And I always loved to hold them down while he does it."

Sonic gulped. His copyright grin turned into a nervous smile. Shadow drew closer to him and held his index and middle fingers up. At Shadow's command of, "Chaos Knife," they began to spark with golden electricity-like energy.

"Alright, that's enough," said Espio. "We get it. You interrogate people. Can we get back to the situation, please?"

Shadow turned his head. "I agree," he said, releasing the Chaos Paralysis.

Sonic sighed with relief as Rouge relinquished her grip on his arms. Amy was soon on top of him in a bone-crushing embrace.

"Oh, Sonic! Are you alright? Speak to me!"

The blue one's words were difficult to interpret with the desperate gasps for breath. "Amy... need... breathe... get... off!"

Eventually, she caught his meaning and released him. He was on all fours struggling to regain his breath. Shadow wasn't sure who would have caused Sonic more pain; himself, or Amy.

The following day, everything was in place. Rouge had received a warrant from G.U.N. to perform active surveillance on and impersonate the staff of a city establishment. All of the current cameras of the building were altered to just such a way that there were specific blind spots that even the most psychotic killer would be able to spot.

The library itself consisted of two floors. The first consisted of a large assortment of shelves all surrounding the central desk used for checking out books. There was a glass elevator on the far side which led to the second floor. That floor was in somewhat of a 'U' shape that overlooked the first. Floor 1 consisted mainly of fiction and literature, while Floor 2 held most of the non-fiction, biography, and records.

Amy, Cream, Tails, and Vector would be working at the central desk. Sonic, Knuckles, and Charmy would be staff there to help guests look for books. Espio would be hidden in an air vent on the second floor taking pictures of all the people who entered the front door. All of the other doors were temporarily sealed. No one in or out for the time being. Even if someone were to slip in through one of the other doors unnoticed, there were cameras always pointed at the doors. They would know who was in there that day.

The members of Team Dark would be receiving the pictures of and keeping track of the guests. Despite his change in personality, Shadow would not be seen. He would attract too much attention from being all over the news. They could only pray that Sonic's glasses and clothes would keep people from recognizing him despite his protests that clothing slowed him down.

They opened the library at 7 AM, but their first guest didn't arrive until 8. It was a human male in his twenties. Judging by the rush he was in, it was safe to say that he was a college kid who forgot to do some studying. He was watched closely for the short time he was in there. Everyone's eyes were fixed upon him when he wasn't looking.

The next few hours hailed a few more guests. A lavender fox, a white hawk, a human girl, a brown mouse, and a gray wolf to name a few. Sonic was put particularly on edge when a green hedgehog who bore striking resemblance to him walked in. It seemed to calm him when he smiled at Cream baring straight and clean teeth.

The trouble was that none of the guests seemed to be going into the blind spot. At 10:21, however, that changed. It was a silvery gray hedgehog with yellow eyes. His quills stood up in the front making him resemble a cockatoo, while two longer ones curved downward in the back. He appeared to not like the presence of the security cameras. They seemed to put him on edge, and he ducked into one of the blind spots.

"Gotcha," said Rouge, saving the picture of him that Espio had sent her. She dialed a number into her phone, and the phone at Tails' desk rang. Shadow heard the phone pick up and Tails' voice say in a quiet tone, "Thank you for calling Station Square Library, how may I help you?"

"Tails, get the picture of that silver hedgehog and see if you can get a name."

"One moment, please," said Tails, staying in character.

After typing the name on his computer, his voice came again. "I'm afraid that that book has been checked out. Would you like for me to put it on hold for you?"

She understood the meaning that he wasn't registered and asked if she wanted him to save his picture.

"Yes."

A few more taps on the keyboard, and it was done. "Alright, thank you. Have a nice day."

A similar pattern continued for several hours. Occasionally, a guest would walk into one of the blind spots and be reported to one of the four at the desks.

At 4:24, they had just received the picture of a twelfth suspect. "How do you think he's going to try to kill the next one?" asked Shadow.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that he has some sort of timer that'll drop the body from the ceiling a few minutes after he sets it up-"

Shadow's cell phone rang.

**Uh-oh. This doesn't look good. But will they catch the murderer even if he gets away with killing the victim? Tune in next time to find out! Thanks to youthboy14 and Rafael Pereira for your reviews. I love all of you guys! (no homo XD)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Allo, Internet. Welcome back to the story. Did you enjoy your cliffhanger ending to the last chapter? No. Of course you didn't. That's why you're reading this crap that I put up. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 11: Downfall

Shadow stared at the screen of his phone in disbelief. Impossible! There wasn't even a body to call for! Loathing what he might hear, he opened the phone and raised it to his ear.

"Tsk Tsk, Shadow. I thought that I had made it obvious. Oh well. I suppose that since I haven't killed them just yet, I'll make you a deal. If you can find and rescue the victims before their time runs out, they're saved. You'd better hurry, though. They might bleed out before the timers go off."

Shadow bolted up. "Where are you, you pathetic excuse for a monster?"

The voice gave a smug, "Hmph. The Horizon Tower, you pathetic excuse for an Ultimate Life Form."

Shadow barely needed to hear the dial tone before bursting into the library. Many of the guests jumped in shock. "Sonic!" he shouted. "Horizon Tower! Let's go!"

Tearing through the doors, he heard a cocky, "Finally!"

His jet shoes rocketed him toward the other side of the central district toward a looming building in the distance. This was the Horizon Tower. It was named for its ability to 'expand the horizon' of the city. If you asked Shadow, it was an egotistical display of power and ingenuity.

The building itself was a simple rectangular shape with no rooms, large metal supports, and elevators that carried passengers to the observation decks. The observation decks formed a large golden ring around it made to resemble the golden power rings.

Sonic was following close behind him, tearing off the clothes that they had forced him into. Were he human, he would have been classified as either drunk or insane.

As the hedgehogs approached the building, they saw that the police had formed a perimeter. When they drew nearer, they saw that the elevators had large boxes labeled 'EXPLOSIVES' in them along with a monitor. The monitor showed a timer slowly counting down while playing an audio recording of the killer's disguised voice.

"Do not enter the elevators. They have been rigged to explode if anyone sets foot in them. If they do explode, they may weaken the supports. Who knows? You may have to deal with more deaths than those of the victims up there. I have a game to play and I am very eager to win."

These simple statements were set in an endless loop. The police officers were keeping a large throng back. The most difficult to keep back were supposedly the family members of the victims. They were crying, begging, pleading to be let through, but the officers were wise enough to keep them from killing themselves and possibly others.

Shadow looked at the timer. They only had three minutes and seven seconds until the victims were killed.

"Shadow. If I get enough space, I might be able to run up the side of the building. You use your shoes. I'll get there as soon as I can," said Sonic.

Shadow nodded. "I'll open up the decks with a Chaos Spear. I'll go right; you go left."

"Got it."

Shadow closed his eyes. He summoned as much Chaos energy as he could and began channeling it toward his feet. His shoes began to burn extremely hot in response. With a cry of "Chaos Launch," he was lifted off of the ground and began hurtling toward the top of the building.

Looking down, he saw Sonic running down a long street in order to build up enough momentum to carry him to the top. For Shadow, the top was drawing nearer. The golden ring grew larger as he hurtled toward it faster than a jet plane.

When he had reached a sufficient height, he restricted the flow of Chaos energy to his feet. Though slowing down, he was still rocketing toward the ring above him. With a swing of his arm and crying, "Chaos Spear," he shot a yellow lightning-like bolt of energy at the ring which broke into the interior. Just as gravity slowed him down enough to reach the height of his jump, he reached out his hand and grabbed onto the tiled floor of the observation decks.

He pulled himself up from the layer of concrete and electrical wiring underneath to the main flooring. Looking down, he saw a blue streak hurtling down a long road toward the building. Sonic was using a spindash: a more destructive, but harder to charge means of getting to a high place. The spindash also required a flat surface to support the user, but the user was also protected by it and could automatically cause damage to an opponent.

Soon enough, Sonic had rocketed up the side of the building and was standing on the opposite side of the whole that Shadow had created. They nodded at each other.

Shadow wasted no time in turning to his right and rocketing down the circular hallway quickly enough to cover sufficient ground, but slow enough to notice anything suspicious. In the blur that surrounded him, he could see a few coffee shops, the elevator station, brief glimpses of the city from the windows, facts about the building posted on the wall; the entire hallway had a circumference of almost three-quarters of a mile.

Finally, when he was about two-thirds of the way to having circumnavigated the building, he saw them. Four victims; a human boy, a dark green echidna, a gray fox, and a white chameleon. They were each numbered from 42 to 39. Their gagged faces showed only two emotions to Shadow: searing pain and mortal terror.

They were each completely horizontally suspended from the window with their hands firmly tied around their back. Each one was supported by a noose holding them up by the back of the neck. The nooses were connected at a small device with the timer that read 1:52 One thought came to Shadow's mind: where was Sonic?

Before Shadow could look for him, the killer's voice played through the device. "Ah, good to see you could make it, Shadow. Here's the deal. Each of the victims is only separated from death by a noose and a windowpane to put their feet on. When the timer runs out, the nooses will extend, and they will fall until the rope runs out. If you try to pass the device to reach them, the timer means nothing anymore. You have to disarm the device or they will pay for it. Don't worry about your blue friend, though. He's not going to bother you."

When the voice stopped playing, the victims began groaning through their gags, begging Shadow to save them. "Calm down!" said Shadow, and he began his work on the device.

He wasn't exactly a technology expert, but he knew that he'd have to remove the metal covering at some place. Choosing to remove the timer screen, he saw that it was connected with multi-colored wires that plugged into a small black box. The box was attached to a horizontal winch that held the ropes of the four nooses.

Shadow severely wished that Tails or even Omega were here to tell him which part did what. Thinking quickly, he started to think through his options. Cutting the ropes was out of the question because he would send the victims plummeting to their deaths. He knew that he could not simply cut all of the wires at once because at least one of them was keeping the ropes in place.

The timer was still ticking. He only had forty-seven seconds. Trying to stay calm, he separated the colored wires. There was one red, one blue, one green, two yellow, one black, and one black-and-yellow. With forty seconds remaining, Shadow began racing through his memories in an attempt to remember what each color meant in an explosive. He had been trained to disarm those.

30 seconds; the black wire connects it to the power source. If he disconnects that one, the winch will just unwind and they're done for.

26 seconds; the blue wire inhibits a premature activation. It would be best to keep that intact.

20 seconds; the red wire is a backup in case the original activation fails. He promptly yanked it out.

15 seconds; the yellow wires kept the winch in place until the activation command was given. Those were the ones that he knew he couldn't disconnect.

10 seconds; the green wire prevents an activation or deactivation from an outside source. He didn't want the killer to activate it even if the right wire was severed.

5 seconds...

Which means...

4...

The one that carries the command...

3...

Is...

2...

The black-and-yellow!

1...

Shadow stared in disbelief. In his hand, he held a torn black-and-yellow wire. The timer on the device read 0:00. All of the victims were still supported on the backs of their necks by the nooses with their feet on the windowpane. It was over. He had done it.

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief, but perhaps too soon. A second later, his phone rang. He almost laughed at the 'Unknown' that was shown on the screen. The killer had been beaten at his own game.

He unfolded the phone and put it up to his ear. "Well done, Shadow. Do you hear that? That's the sound of me applauding you saving their lives."

The silence lingered on. "What's that? You don't hear anything? That's because you haven't saved them. They only have a matter of seconds before they bleed out. Ta Ta."

Shadow's eyes widened in shock. He thrust his phone into his pocket and lunged for the window. Since the device had been disabled, he didn't have to worry about crossing the line to set it off.

Careful not to pull them upright and risk having them lose more blood, he grabbed hold of the ends of the ropes and used a Chaos Spear to sever them. Then with a shout of "Chaos Control!" he and the victims entered the warp dimension for an instant.

The very next instant, they were collapsed on the white linoleum floor of St. Tikal General Hospital. Doctors and nurses gasped in shock at first, then wisely began to call for emergency medical attention. The victims, with their faces still contorted in pain, were carted off on gurneys while a doctor helped Shadow up off of the ground. Having to launch himself onto the tallest building in the city followed by a Chaos Spear and teleporting four others in such a short amount of time was rather taxing on Shadow, but he had gotten the victims to safety. They had a chance to be happy; to live their dreams.

**Hooray! Probably the first actual happy ending to one of my chapters. So, who is the murderer? Has he truly been stopped, or will he continue? Was that second question incredibly stupid because there's so much yet to be told? Be back next time and find out. (Five points to the house that recognizes the Batman: Arkham Asylum reference.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**What up, Internet? First of all, a big thank you to kharmachaos for pointing out the typo from the last chapter. Anyway, enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 12: Aftermath

Shadow opened his eyes slowly. He was staring up at a white ceiling. Looking around, he saw that he was in a very small equally white room. His body resisted as he struggled to push himself into a sitting position. There was nothing in the tiny room except for the bed that he had been sleeping on, a small nightstand, a door on the opposite end of the room, and a window with its blinds down.

Suddenly, he remembered. He had dropped the victims into the hospital. Then someone helped him off the floor, but he had collapsed soon afterward. What had happened to the victims?

He threw off the white sheets that had covered him and swung his feet to the floor. Just as he did, though, the door slowly opened from a white hall. Light began to spill into the room as a nurse walked in carrying a clipboard.

"Oh! Up already? Good, I'm glad you're alright." The scarlet swallow in white staring from across the room at Shadow smiled. "But really, you should rest. You lost a lot of energy and it's going to take some time for you to get it back."

Shadow ignored her comments and asked with wide eyes, "Where are the victims?"

She walked over to him and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Relax. They lost a good deal of blood, and those scars might never heal, but they're alright. I just got through with checking up on one of them. It was the green echidna. His name is Jonathan Forger; he and his family send their deepest gratitude."

Shadow exhaled in sheer relief and collapsed back onto the bed. This time, he did not have to give his life to protect someone. They were alive, and Shadow had won the game.

Then, Shadow sat bolt upright making the nurse jump with surprise. "Do you know where Sonic the Hedgehog is?"

The nurse consulted her clipboard. "Well, he's not on this floor, but I can check to see if he has been checked in if you'd like."

"Yes, please." Shadow may have disliked Sonic, but he loathed the prospect of having him die or be severely injured simply because he had called him to assist him.

After a few exceedingly long minutes, the nurse returned. "He hasn't been checked in, but we have contacted his friends, and they assure us that he is fine."

Again, Shadow sighed in relief. "May I leave, now?" he asked. "I need to speak with him."

"Actually," answered the nurse, "we were just asked if you were able to go to the police station. They want to ask you about some things. If you're sure you feel alright, then, by all means, go ahead."

Shadow bowed his head in thanks and started for the door. When he reached the handle, though, he felt a hand grasp his own. He turned to see the nurse looking at him with tears in her eyes and a trembling smile. "Thank you so much," she said with a weak voice. "The gray fox was my fiancé. You saved his life and I... I..."

She broke off into sobbing. Shadow let her cry for a few more seconds, then gently lifted her chin with his fingertips. "You are more welcome than you know. I hope that you two are happy."

She smiled weakly then proceeded to cry for a moment longer. "Okay, go ahead," she said when she had regained her voice. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

He nodded then exited the room. Leaving her to her tears of joy, he took out his Chaos Emerald and said the magic words.

Seconds later, he appeared in front of the stone steps of Station Square Police Station. He walked up the stairs and entered the building. Inside, the room was gray and white. There was next to nothing in it; only a receptionist desk which was flanked by two doors on either side and a few waiting benches. However, this meant nothing to Shadow because standing near the desk was Sonic, Rouge, and Officer Sells. They had turned to look at him the second he had entered.

Sells beamed at him. "Well done, Shadow. You had us holding our breath there for a while, but you came through in the end."

Sonic gave him the thumbs-up. "Awesome job, Shadow! You nailed that freak right in the kisser!"

Shadow addressed him before Rouge could congratulate him as well. "What happened to you?"

The blue hedgehog's grin faded a bit. "It was the weirdest thing. I was running down the hall when all of a sudden, this... capsule came down on top of me. It was exactly like that thing aboard the ARK."

Shadow's eyes narrowed. So the killer knew about that, too. Sonic continued, "Well, this time, I didn't have a Chaos Emerald with me, real or fake, so I couldn't just warp out. Luckily, the glass wasn't as strong as last time, and I wasn't in danger of losing air if I broke out. So I busted right out of there and Sells, here," he said, pointing to that officer, who cleared his throat, "caught me."

"Well, there was one thing that was the same as last time," he said in further continuation. "A few seconds after I landed, the thing blew up, and by the time the smoke cleared, the timer was out, and you were in the hospital."

Shadow nodded in understanding. This person knew a lot of things about Shadow's past and seemed to have a lot of... resources.

He turned to look at the blue hero. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sonic nodded. "This guy seems to know a lot about the stuff that happened up there," he said, pointing upward, indicating the ARK.

Rouge finally joined in, "And he's got a lot of technical know-how, too, based on what we found up there in that tower."

The three of them said it at the same time. "Eggman"

Officer Sells looked taken aback. "What? But he hasn't been seen in weeks."

"Exactly," said Rouge. "I didn't think he'd stoop this low, but maybe he wants to break Shadow so he can use him."

Sonic concurred. "I always knew he was a creep, but I didn't think he'd actually kill people."

Sells looked skeptical. "This just doesn't seem to be his style. He always struck me as more of the 'giant-army-cause-lots-of-destruction kind of guy."

"That's the only problem," said Shadow. "I was working with him for a while, and he was way too flamboyant to be doing anything this quietly."

Sells nodded. "Maybe we should get on with the questionings and see for ourselves."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Questionings?"

Rouge explained, "After you left, we decided we needed to get all of our suspects together."

"What good would that do us?" asked Shadow. "The victims were in the tower, not the library."

Rouge smirked. "Because he chickened out."

Shadow's eyebrow remained raised as she continued, "He must have seen our blind spot trick and decided that it would be too risky to do it in there. Since that happened, he decided to go with the next best thing: the literal meaning of the riddle."

Sells continued, "We calculated the time that it would have taken for him to set the trap up and found our group of most likely suspects. They're all waiting just a bit beyond that door," he said, pointing to the door to the left of the desk.

Rouge continued, "We've got government grants to do a little interrogating ourselves just as long as we don't hurt anybody too bad. That means we're back in business, Shadow.

Shadow smirked. "I guess that means I have to be all serious again, huh?"

Sonic grinned. "You two would make such a happy couple."

They both turned to him, eyebrows raised. "I trust her with my life, Sonic, but I can't marry her."

Rouge turned to him, hands on her hips. "Why is that, _Shad_?"

He turned to her with a serious look. "Because I am not going to die, and I couldn't possibly bear the thought of losing another girl like I lost Maria."

She refused to take her hands from her hips. "Well, that's why you make the most of the time that you ha-"

Sells cleared his throat. The two of them straightened up. "Sorry," they said, simultaneously.

They followed Sells behind the door that he had indicated into a long concrete hallway. He pointed at the second door on the left and said, "They're all waiting in here."

They walked a few more steps, and then Sells opened the fourth door on their right. Inside was exactly what you'd expect in an interrogation room: a wooden desk with a lamp on it and a small stool in front of it. The rest of the room was completely dark.

"I'll send the first one in," said Sells, as they entered.

"And we'll be ready," said Rouge.

When the door closed, they looked at each other. "Good cop-Bad cop?" asked Shadow.

In the dim glow of the lamp, Rouge smirked and nodded. Shadow proceeded to walk into one of the darker corners of the room, turn to face the desk, fold his arms, and glare at the door.

A few seconds later, Sells opened the door and led the first suspect in. It was a dark pink rabbit, but oddly enough... it was a male. Shadow could tell by the jeans and red shirt that he wore. He was looking incredibly nervous as he looked at Rouge behind the desk. When he saw Shadow glaring at him from the darkness, he looked positively mortified. Sells shut the door behind him and he jumped slightly.

Rouge motioned toward the stool. "Please, sit down Mr..."

The rabbit refused to respond in any way, but continued to shiver, looking down at his feet.

"If you don't at least tell me your name, I'll have to call you Pinky."

He looked up. "I'm not pink!" he shouted indignantly, in a slightly high-pitched voice. "I'm just... light red."

She winked. "Sure you are."

He walked toward the desk, almost all of his fear had melted away. "I am not pink! My name is Zach Franks, and I want you to-"

"You can go," she interrupted.

The words didn't seem to register. "I can... what?"

Shadow explained for her. "The purpose of this questioning was to determine whether or not you were the killer. Since you were genuinely offended by my partner calling you pink and gave us your name, you certainly don't think like the man we're after. Get out of my sight."

The rabbit looked like he would have retorted, but seemed to think better of it when he looked into Shadow's piercing red eyes.

"Send in the next person, would you?" requested Rouge.

He turned and walked out of the room briskly. A few seconds later, the silvery gray hedgehog that was the first to step into the blind spot came in.

'This should be fun,' thought Shadow.

**I'm tired and there's not much to say. Later.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello again, Internet. Well, thank you to Shade123 for your review... yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 13: Foresight

The hedgehog's yellow eyes reflected one thing to Shadow: ambition. It was the glare of focus and naïveté that is more powerful than a missile's lock-on targeting. Shadow recognized it from his own reflection from when he was on his quest to end the world. Such a feeling was unquestioning and impartial to any means to reaching one's goal. The raven hedgehog smirked. The silver hedgehog before him was still caught in the immature void of childishness. Still, he did appear to be a teenager, so this was understandable.

"Sit down, please," said Rouge.

The silver hedgehog didn't move. Unlike the last suspect, he refused to listen because he was angry that they had him in this situation. To Shadow, this could mean two things: either he was the killer and thought he was caught, or had something else to do that he thought was more important. Due to the look in his eyes, Shadow guessed it was the latter.

"Do as you're told," said Shadow from his corner. The hedgehog turned to look at Shadow.

"I have more important things to do right now. Please let me leave. I would be most grateful."

Shadow's eyes narrowed, but he chuckled at heart. His suspicions were correct.

"Please," said Rouge. "If you want to get out of here sooner, just play along. We just need to ask you some questions." Her good-cop persona remained unbroken.

He seemed to consider this for a moment, then sat down on the stool in front of him.

"Good," said Rouge. "Tell me, are you aware of the string of murders that started recently?"

"Yes," replied the hedgehog. "I know that there was one beneath a bridge, one in the cemetery, a few on a boat on the river, and four were recently saved from falling off of a tower."

Shadow stepped forward. "How do you know about that last one?"

Though the hedgehog remained calm, Shadow could tell that something was unnerving him. Based on past experiences, he guessed that it was Shadow's manner that made him nervous.

"I exercised my right to make a phone call. My... employer told me about it."

Rouge motioned for Shadow to back up a bit. "What is your name?" she asked with a strained politeness.

"Silver the Hedgehog," he replied.

Shadow had to keep his eyebrows from raising. Did he mean the Silver that had his order ready in seconds from that cafe that Jen had recommended? If he weren't trying to convince the hedgehog that he was his enemy, he'd thank him for the service.

"Alright, Silver," she began. "Do you know why you are in this room, then?"

"I would guess that it is because you suspect me to be the perpetrator."

Rouge nodded. "What we need to know is why you are _not _the killer."

Silver looked a bit offended, but answered nonetheless. "I am merely staying for a short amount of time. Station Square is not my home."

Shadow spoke. "How does that prove that you are innocent?" he asked in a somewhat threatening voice.

Silver answered just as Shadow thought he would. "The details to commit such precise murders would require an extensive knowledge of Station Square's layout."

"What's to stop someone like you from finding a map or having... an accomplice?"

Silver looked a bit more nervous.

"Blaze, wasn't it? Does she live in Station Square?"

Silver's eyes widened. "How do you know about-?"

"We ask the questions, you answer them!" interrupted Shadow in a harsh tone.

The silvery hedgehog looked very angry. "No. We are just visiting family." But already, Silver seemed to know that it was the wrong thing to say.

"Then why was she taking my order and calling your name in a place called Blaze's Cafe?" asked Shadow, coming toward the table. "Am I to believe that this family of yours makes you work when you visit?"

Again, Rouge bade Shadow back away. "Please, Silver, if you don't tell us the truth willingly, my partner will have to force it out of you."

Shadow cracked his knuckles in response. Silver showed signs of trying to make something else up. "B-Blaze's father wants us to get work experience before we go to college."

"I see," said Shadow, pulling out his cell phone. "Perhaps I can talk to Blaze's father. You do know his number, don't you?"

Shadow could see sweat drops on Silver's forehead. "N-No, I don't know it by heart."

Rouge spoke up. "Is it on your cell phone, then?

Silver cleared his throat. "I-I don't have it with me."

Shadow leaned against the table, glaring at Silver. "I've heard better excuses from a schoolboy."

Finally, Silver gave up. "Very well, Blaze does own the cafe, but we have not lived in Station Square for a very long time."

Rouge smiled gently. "There you go. So why else are you not the killer?"

Silver thought for a moment, then came up with something. "If I were the killer, why would I come quietly when an officer of the law told me that I needed to go to their headquarters?"

Shadow's answer was immediate. "So that you could act as if you were a nervous high-schooler, thus making us believe that you were innocent so that we would not suspect you. We're going to need something better than that."

Silver sighed. It was the kind of sigh that said 'I guess I have to tell them, no matter how much it might make things worse.' "Very well, I will tell you the truth. I can already tell that you will not believe me, but if you could tell that I was lying before, perhaps you can tell that I am telling the truth now."

"We'll humor you," said Shadow.

"Just tell us," said Rouge, sweetly. "We won't laugh at you." Shadow could tell that saying these words was secretly making her sick just to say them.

Silver let out another sigh, then began his explanation on a very blunt note. "Blaze and I are from the future."

With some difficulty, they kept their word not to laugh at him.

"I see," said Rouge with a disbelieving smile. "And what year are you from, exactly?"

Silver's eyes narrowed. "We don't know anymore. Such knowledge has been lost to us for centuries."

"How would you know that it's been centuries if you lost track of the years?" asked Rouge, trying to bring him back to reality.

"Hear me out!" urged Silver. "Blaze and I were sent back because our world has been devastated. A great hero from the past turned insane and destroyed everything; including himself. My parents, Blaze, and I are the only ones who survived his massacre. We came back hoping that we might stop the hero or help him to remain sane. If we do that, our world may return back to normal."

Shadow's eyelids drooped. "Before you go any further into your _riveting _tale, do you have any _proof _that you are from the future?"

The silvery hedgehog considered this, then sighed again. "Very well, if it is the only way to convince you, here it is."

Silver reached out his right hand, palm upward. Shadow could now see that the gloves on his hands had small horseshoe-like markings that glowed a translucent blue. Suddenly, the glowing intensified. Silver's eyes began to grow a bright green as a shape appeared in the air above his hand.

Shadow could not believe his eyes. The glowing died down, and the room returned to its former darkness. There, sitting in the palm of Silver's hand was... the green Chaos Emerald.

"Where did you get that?" asked Shadow.

"It took years to find. When the hero finally killed himself, we were able to search the Earth for the legendary seven Chaos Emeralds. You see, legend had it that the Chaos Emeralds house the power of time." He held it up higher. "A jewel containing the Ultimate Power."

Shadow looked at him with a shocked glare. Silver saw this and said, "I know that you don't believe me, but-"

He was cut short by Shadow reaching into his spines and retrieving his own green Chaos Emerald. All three of them stared in disbelief at each other.

"He is telling the truth," said Shadow. "If what he holds in his hand is what he says it is, then he truly is from the future." He reached out his hand. "Give it to me."

Silver jerked the Emerald back. "No! If I do, it may jeopardize our mission. I may never be able to return to my own time!"

"I believe that you said your time was a desolate wasteland. What harm is there in being caught in a prosperous and beautiful world?"

Silver's grip loosened a bit.

"If you continue to withhold it from me, I will assume that it is a fake. Therefore, your story becomes fake as well."

Silver bit his lip. Finally, he reluctantly handed Shadow his Emerald. As it touched his hand, Shadow felt the same cold hard energy that the Chaos Emerald in his other hand gave off. It seemed incredibly farfetched, but could this person really have just handed him a Chaos Emerald from the future?

With only one way to find out, Shadow handed his own Emerald to Rouge and said, "Chaos Control."

He felt the rush of Chaos Energy flow through the Emerald into his body. The positive energy and the negative energy, which had been separate, began to diffuse and merge until the Order was reached. He had done it. This Chaos Emerald was one hundred percent real.

Shadow appeared behind the would-be suspect and tossed him his Emerald. "I cannot deny it. You are definitely from the future."

For the first time, Silver smiled. "Thank you. I did not know that anyone in this time could induce a Chaos Control. Still, I am glad that you believe me."

Rouge still looked somewhat skeptical. "Are you sure? I'm not sure I'm ready to believe that I'm talking to a time traveler."

"Whether you are ready or not, it's happening." Turning to Silver, Shadow continued, "Expect to see me at Blaze's Cafe more often. You may go."

Standing up, Silver said, "Thank you. I await your arrival." And with that, he walked out.

**Well, right now I'd probably take the time to explain some things, but that's what mysteries are about, right? So, just keep on reading and I'll keep on writing. Ciao.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Welcome back, Internet. Whew, sorry this one took so long. If you've been through high school, you know how much teachers like to cram in tests before breaks. Anyway, I don't really have time to personally thank people for their reviews. I'll try to do it when I have more time (like next chapter). Anyway, enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 14: Eternity

Shadow and Rouge walked down the stone steps from Station Square Police Station. The questionings had taken them into the dead of night. Shadow checked the time on his phone: 1:45 AM. Despite being the Ultimate Life Form, he was going to need a good deal of rest after the day's events.

"Well, that was... unproductive," he commented as they reached the sidewalk.

"Look on the bright side," said Rouge. "At least we know twelve people who _aren't _the killer."

Shadow smirked. "Yes, twelve out of the entire population of Station Square. We're on a roll."

"Oh, shut up," she said, lightly punching him on the shoulder. "We meet a guy from the future, and you're still a pessimist."

"Well, for a pessimist, I'm pretty optimist-"

Rouge covered Shadow's mouth. "Paramore has something called copyright, Shadow. The author has enough to deal with without you breaking it."

**What the-? How do these guys know about-? Oh.**

***replaces fourth wall***

**There we go.**

"I wonder if we could just get the whole city together so we could question all of them," suggested Rouge.

"No," said Shadow. "We don't even know if the killer even lives in the city. Besides, we'd be wasting a lot of time."

"Still, you've got to admit, that guy had a clone of your Chaos Emerald. I still don't know if he's from the future, but I'm glad we met him."

Shadow said nothing. To tell the truth, he wasn't entirely sure that he believed it either. Even if it were true, the hedgehog could just as easily have fabricated a story in order to spite Shadow... or his family. And what if he was telling the truth? If the world came to ruin because a great hero went crazy, who was that hero? Was destiny telling him that he would fail to protect those people and eventually go insane? Still, if Silver and Blaze really had come back, the course of history would be altered somehow. What Shadow needed to know was whether that alteration would be for better or for worse. The worst part of all of this was that everything buzzing around in Shadow's head was purely assumption; in other words: nothing.

Suddenly, he felt something pull at the back of his shirt forcing him to stop. "Shadow? Are you okay?" asked Rouge.

He turned to look at her. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you were about to walk right into that brick wall."

Shadow looked forward. Sure enough, he was right in front of a large brick wall. Had she not pulled on his shirt, he would have collided with it.

He cleared his throat. "Thanks," he said.

She smiled pleasantly. "You look like you could use a break. Wanna stay at the Club like old times?"

He smiled. The first month after his resignation from G.U.N. was spent completely in Club Rouge. Shadow had seen no reason to leave because the Club had everything that he felt like he needed: a roof, food and water, and the company of friends. This was one of many things that Rouge would be changing about him. She told him that it was unhealthy not to get out and see the world. Of course, he had argued that his superior immune system could rule out unhealthy materials because he did not know that she meant his mental health.

"Sure," he said. "Just as long as I get my old room back."

"No, I'm going to make you sleep on the floor in front of my bed," she replied with friendly sarcasm. The two shared a small laugh, then turned onto the road on which sat the familiar Club.

Without the owner present, the club had been closed for the night. Rouge pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. As she pulled it open, Shadow grabbed the handle and held the door open for her. "A gentleman always holds the door open for ladies," he recited. She smiled, and the two walked in.

Rouge took a small step to the left and turned on the lights. The two of them walked across the familiar black concrete toward the back doors. There were three doors on the opposite wall from the entrance. The first was the electrical closet for all of the technical wares of the club. The second was the door to the basement that Shadow had sent the others down. It contained extra wires, most of the beverages served at Shadow's bar, and some things that Rouge wanted to keep safe. The third door was the one that they were looking for. That was the door to the second floor which held rooms for all of the three members of Team Dark.

They walked up the staircase which turned twice to meet the next door which Shadow unlocked. Omega was waiting just beyond that door. "Greetings, Shadow," said Omega. "I was unaware that you would be resting here tonight. I am, however, glad that you have come."

"I'm glad to be back, too," replied Shadow with a smile. "Is my room still the same?"

"This unit was hopeful for your return and took the liberty of retaining your quarters' former likeness," replied Omega. Shadow always liked that Omega could be so kind yet so verbose at the same time.

"Thanks," he said. Then, something dawned on him. "Omega, would you come with me to my room? I need to talk to you about something."

Rouge turned to him. "Does it have to be between just you two?" she asked pleadingly.

Shadow looked down. "Yes," he said.

"Alright," she said, walking toward her room. "But now I know who it's about," she said smugly. With that, she opened her door, bade the two good night, and disappeared behind it.

Omega turned to Shadow. "Please lead the way."

He looked back up, nodded, and proceeded down the hall toward his old room. Opening the door, he saw everything just as it was when he had left. The walls were black, and there was hardly anything else in the room. There was a relatively small bed with white sheets, a small dresser which had held all of his clothes, and a nightstand for his alarm clock; everything that Shadow had thought he could possibly want.

"What is it that troubles you, Shadow?" asked the android.

Shadow sighed. "I think that I may have met someone from the future."

Omega did not speak for a while. The reason that Shadow had wanted to speak with Omega alone was partially because Rouge already knew. Also, he needed someone that would not laugh at him nor refuse to listen to him no matter what he said. Not to mention, like Shadow, Omega was not going to die. He did not plan on keeping anything from his robotic friend as long as they remained friends. Shadow had hoped that that would be forever.

"Such a phenomena is highly illogical, but this unit will listen, nonetheless," Omega said after the pause. Shadow nodded then went into his explanation of their questioning of the hedgehog. All the while, Omega's robotic eyes remained solidly fixed on him without the slightest change of focus. When he had finished, Omega seemed to be processing the information. "Even with such an explanation, this prospect remains highly improbable," he concluded.

Shadow nodded. "I know, but it seems so much more... real now that I've used his Chaos Emerald. When I held them both in my hands, it was like holding the same exact thing. Even using a Chaos Control with it felt exactly the same as the other one."

Omega continued to stare. Shadow knew that it was difficult to explain that kind of thing to a machine that runs almost entirely on logic. Hopefully, he could reach that heart that set the E-series robots apart from all of the Doctor's other creations. Finally, the robot spoke. "I understand that you feel somewhat conflicted. I shall continue to view this situation with an open mind."

"Thanks, Omega," said Shadow.

"Is there anything else that you wished to speak with me about?" asked Omega.

He hesitated. Was this really something that he wanted to discuss with a machine that knew only logic? The fact remained, however, that Omega was his best friend and had shown himself to be the most human out of any robot that Shadow had ever met.

"Omega, have you ever thought about what we will do after our friends have... died? You and I will be the only ones still alive, and I doubt that even our combined strength can save the world time after time. Should we leave it up to the next generation? Or..." Shadow was extremely hesitant to finish his sentence. "Or should we, well, I... make a generation of my own with someone else."

Omega stood and continued to stare. "You speak of the inseparable bond of marriage?" he asked. Shadow nodded. For a long time, Omega stood and processed what Shadow had just said. It seemed to be much more difficult to solve, even, than Shadow's last question. After what seemed like hours staring into Omega's red eyes, trying to guess what was going on behind them, Omega came up with an answer.

"Rouge has given you much knowledge pertaining to the treatment of others. If she were to pass, I am certain that you could obtain more allies with ease. On the subject of marriage, you must accept that everything will pass with time. You and I shall linger on throughout time, waiting until either death or the end of the world comes to us. If you truly love another, you must love her above any other woman in all of time. Your wife must also be willing to love you then leave you when time claims her. She must accept that by marrying you, she will leave you to an eternity of solitude all for the price of a lifetime spent with her."

Shadow looked down in sorrow. Then, he felt Omega's metal hand rest gently on his shoulder. The cold hard metal felt surprisingly... comforting. He looked back up to meet Omega's gaze. "But I shall remain your friend until the end of time. No death, departure, or reprogramming can ever change that." He smiled. Omega's normally piercing red eyes seemed so compassionate and welcoming now.

"Thank you, Omega," he said softly. "That means very much to me."

Omega lifted his hand from Shadow's shoulder. "You are in need of rest. I shall leave you to sleep for now." With that, the walking arsenal turned and exited Shadow's room.

Shadow smiled with gratitude then collapsed on his bed.

**Okie dokie. Now all that's left to do is to weld that fourth wall back on. See you guys later. *grabs a blow torch***


	15. Chapter 15

**Howdy, Internet. Well, last chapter, I promised to thank you for the reviews for Chapter 13, but I got a lot more favs from that chapter than reviews. Ergot, thank you to Alzea-THE-Hedgehog, Taiyoukai assassin, and CncFan. Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 15: The Color Gray

"Shadow... Shadow?" A voice was calling to him; a sweet female voice that was so familiar yet so forgotten. Where had he heard that voice before? "Time to get up, Shadow," said the voice. Get up? Was he asleep? With some difficulty, he forced himself to open his eyes. He was lying on his side in his old room. "Everyone's already downstairs, we'll be waiting on you." Everyone? Who was everyone? Oh, of course. Shadow sat upright once again and rubbed his eyes. What a strange dream that had been. He did not remember what it was about, though, only that it was strange.

He stood up and stretched his aching muscles. Lying dormant for hours at a time was something about human behavior that Shadow felt to be extremely counterintuitive. Still, rest from a day's fatigues was also highly helpful.

After rubbing his eyes and blinking one last time, his vision was clear, and he was ready to go. He opened the door which the voice that he had guessed belonged to Rouge had left slightly open, and stepped into the hall. Omega was standing in front of the door that led to the staircase. Despite having no facial features, it was clear to Shadow that they were both glad to see each other. As Shadow opened the door, Omega spoke. "You seem to be somewhat unstable. Was your rest time inadequate?"

"No," said Shadow slowly. "I guess it was just this weird dream that I had."

Omega nodded. "Very well, if that is all that troubles you, please proceed."

With a nod to his robotic counterpart, Shadow walked down the stairs and into the club's main room. There, just as he would have suspected, sat the usual group of friends. They were each sitting in folding chairs in a circle on the dance floor. Everyone was there except for...

"Where are Cream and Charmy?" he asked the group.

"I decided that Cream really shouldn't be involved in this sort of thing," said Amy. True, but she was also of no use to them whatsoever. Shadow often wondered why Amy continually brought Cream into situations that were clearly far too big for her to handle.

Espio said, "We decided to temporarily take Charmy off the case as punishment for..." he pointed at his arm, still bound in a cast. Finally, with the annoying and non-contributors out of the way, they might actually get something done.

"Do we have a new riddle?" he asked.

"Slow down there, Shadow," advised Sonic. "Don't you wanna take some time to wake up first? You don't look so hot." (A.N: The fangirls disagree XD)

"You'd think that since you can run as fast as me, you'd like to get to the point as quickly as I do," commented Shadow.

"If you call that running," retorted Sonic. "You just let those jet shoes do the work for you."

Shadow sat down on an empty chair and crossed his legs, emphasizing his shoes. "I power these shoes using a combination of Chaos Energy and my own physical energy. Also, I'd like to see you reach such high speeds without some sort of covering to reduce friction."

Before Sonic could come up with a witty retort, Knuckles interrupted them. "Guys," he said, holding up a piece of paper, "the riddle."

Shadow cleared his throat and turned to the center. Sonic folded his arms behind his head and stared off into space as if nothing had happened. Knuckles looked as if he was growing very sick of the hedgehogs' constant rivalry. "Well, the police found the four pieces of paper in the would-be victims' pockets, arranged them in the correct order, and gave us this," he said, indicating the paper in his hand. "It says, 'What fastens two people yet touches only one?'"

Shadow began to think. It only touches one? How could something possibly fasten two people together if only one person was touching it? However, Rouge spoke before he could continue thinking. "We also found this in one of their pockets." She held up a small envelope. "It's an invitation to the Station Square Bicentennial Gala this Saturday."

Shadow raised his eyebrows. "The city's been around for two hundred years?"

Rouge nodded. "It looks like the killer already gave us where and when he's going to kill. What we need to figure out is..."

"-who," finished Shadow. Maybe the killer decided that giving them more hints would make it more interesting. Or maybe he wasn't as sadistic as they thought he was. Could it be that the killer was not the person that was calling him? If so, then how did they know where the killer would strike next?

Rouge continued. "The Gala is being held in the Gilded Crescent Ballroom. The police haven't informed the public so that they wouldn't risk anyone not going to the Gala. Since security is so tight in there, they feel like this is our best chance at catching the killer. Plus, they want to reassure the public that they are capable of protecting them after so many people have left."

"Fools," said Shadow. "The killer already has his targets picked out. If they leave, they're more spread out. It'll be nearly impossible to catch the killer unless we give him a reason to stay in one place."

Vector spoke next. "Which is why the police have urged everyone not to leave. They can't force anyone to stay, but they're doing their best." From the tone of his voice, Shadow guessed that by 'they' he meant the Chaotix as well.

"So what are we going to do to make sure that no one dies?" asked Shadow.

Rouge thought for a moment. "Well, figuring out the riddle is the best way, of course. Other than that, I guess that we might just have to rely on the security guards."

Shadow stood up. "That's not good enough. With these killers, it never is."

Rouge stood up and put her hand on his shoulder. "We'll think of something. It's going to be alright; just like last time."

He shook off her hand. "Last time, the only reason there weren't four bodies to clean up was because the killer decided to give me a chance. We only managed to win because of pure luck and the whims of a terrorist."

Knuckles stood up. "'Win?' 'Bodies to clean up?' If you start treating this like a game, you're no better than the killer."

Shadow sat back down and covered his eyes with his hand to cool himself off. "Sorry," he said. He felt Omega's metal hand on his shoulder.

"Shadow, it is understandable that this ordeal is aggravating to you, but anger is merely what this murderer wants to cause you. If it were not, he simply would have targeted you."

He felt Rouge's gentle touch on his other shoulder. "We're all here for you, Shadow."

Shadow stood up. "I need some time to think," he said. With that, he crossed the room and walked out of the door.

The cool autumn breeze hit his face like a well-needed splash of cold water. It was getting to be the time that humans, with no fur, would be putting on jackets for warmth. The warm front that they had had last week had passed. Now, the cold was back with a vengeance. Shadow walked down the street in his red t-shirt and jeans looking at the grayish pavement in front of him. He truly hated the color gray. It was lifeless, dull, and made any day utterly dreary. Looking up did not help as the sky was thick with equally gray clouds. Could his day possibly be any more depressing? He had just received news of more imminent death, realized that his last rescue was all luck, and blown off the comfort of his friends like a jerk. Whoop-dee-doo.

Again, he decided that the best place to go would be the park. It seemed to be some sort of natural release from the cruel gray reality around him. To get there, he had to pass so many tall lifeless buildings. Why did the humans insist on such cold hard materials to create their dwellings? Was steel so wondrous a thing to humans that their habitats should be made from it? Not he; he and his kind belonged among nature and growing things. Finally, he reached the park.

The trees were losing their leaves, but there were a few evergreens that kept the spirit of springtime alive. They seemed so out of place, but that was what made them so beautiful. Still, the change in the other trees was beautiful in its own way. Steel did not change with the seasons. Concrete would not change its color.

Why were these thoughts entering Shadow's mind? Was he so desperate for relief that he had forgotten about the killer? There was a new riddle! He needed to find-

"Shadow!" called a familiar voice. He turned to see Jen running toward him in a light black jacket and jeans.

"Hey, Jen," he greeted back. "I was looking for you."

She came to a stop in front of him. "You were? Sorry, I would give you my number, but I don't have a cell phone."

He shrugged. "Oh well. Ready for the next riddle?"

"Did Mozart promise to marry Marie Antoinette when he was only six years old?" At the puzzled expression on his face, she said with a grin, "That's a yes."

Ignoring her allusion to classical music, he told her about the situation and recited the riddle to her. Of course, he could tell that most of his explanation was going over her head and that she was more interested in the riddle. She paced back and forth for a while as she normally did. Then, she suddenly turned to him and said, "Walk with me. I can't think like this."

Without waiting for a response from him, she turned and began walking down one of the paths. He caught up with her and walked alongside her on the concrete path. "Too rigid," she said.

"What is?" he asked. She did not respond, but found one of the gravel side paths and began to walk down it.

"Too rocky," she said, and before Shadow could ask 'What is?', she sidestepped and began walking on the grass. Then, Shadow understood. She was looking for a suitable ground to walk on before thinking clearly. Finally, she lied down on her back on the grass and said, "Perfect."

Shadow sat down beside her and asked, "Why did you need to change what you were walking on?"

This time, she did respond. "Riddles make you think outside the box. Instead of a straight line, you need a squiggly line. Those concrete squares kept me thinking inside the box, so I couldn't think right for a riddle."

Was Shadow ever going to understand this girl? A few seconds later, her head snapped up. "Got it!" she said. "Wedding ring!"

**Wuh-oh, looks like somebody likes to screw with Shadow's private life. Anyway, I'll catch you guys next time. See ya.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Haldo, Internet. Okay, I need to tell you this now. I'm going out of town for a while and I won't be back until December 6th. Also, I'll be pretty busy during the day while I'm gone and with the school work I have to do, I can't make any promises about when the next chapter will be up. I'm sorry, I'll try my best to update as soon as I can. For now, enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 16: Distrust

Shadow stared at her as if she had just given him the greatest insult in the world. "What did you say?"

"Well, more specifically, an engagement ring. It only touches the bride, but it's a symbol of their promise to eachother," she explained. "But it's pretty vague. I wonder if it isn't something else-"

"No," he cut across her. "You are right. That's exactly what he would go for at this point." He was glaring daggers at the sky as if the killer were mocking him from the gray clouds. "Thank you, Jen. You've told me everything that I needed to know."

"A-Are you sure?" she asked. "You look like I just told you something that made you really angry."

He stood up from the cold grass. "Yes, what you have told me has made me very angry. Thank you for telling me this."

Jen looked bewildered. "Shadow?"

He looked down at her, his look softening a bit. "It's alright. I've just realized something that could be very important to this case. This time, you brought me one step closer to catching the killer than you otherwise would have. That is why I am thankful."

She still appeared to be a bit confused. "O-Okay, but I don't want to make you angry."

He shook his head. "You haven't made me angry." He looked up at the sky again. "But your answer does disturb me."

"What do you mean?"

He closed his eyes. "I can't tell you... In fact, I can't tell anyone."

As she called out, "Shadow! Wait!" he took off running towards his most trusted place of solitude: his apartment. Along the way, his head was swimming. How did the killer know that he had been contemplating marriage? He couldn't very well go back to his friends because they were the only ones that he had confided that in. Was it a mere coincidence? Did Shadow have any bugs on him that the killer was listening through? That much would actually make sense with the way that the killer seemed to know things that many other people wouldn't.

A few minutes later, he reached his apartment. The second he locked the door behind him, he walked over to his nightstand and unplugged the landline phone. He didn't want there to be any way to listen in on him whatsoever. This could only mean two things. Either it was pure coincidence that the riddle was about marriage, or someone very close to him was the killer. He strained to think of all the people that were near him at the mention of marriage.

Sonic was the one who had first brought it up. No, who was he kidding? Sonic didn't have anywhere near the stomach to kill all of these people in cold blood. Rouge; she was one of his best friends who had turned his life around. If she was the murder, then Charmy was the princess of Soleanna. Omega; this one made him stop for a bit. Could Omega have been taken over by the Doctor and forced to kill? It would certainly explain the fact that whoever he was dealing with was exceedingly resourceful. Was Shadow's best friend really unwillingly his worst enemy? Then again, if it were Omega, he would have seen his glowing red eyes in the silhouette from the river incident. Did anyone else know about the discussion of marriage? Then it hit him: Sells. Shadow had never met Sells before, and Sells was never present at the times of the murders. Had the officer been conducting a terrorist movement behind the city's back? He remembered from the first night that the Chaotix had implied that they had known Sells before.

In a second, he turned around and reopened his door. He raced down the corridor and the stairs, out back into the dreary weather. Where was the Chaotix headquarters? Straining to remember, he took off running down the streets, dodging anyone in his path. They were on... Anderson Road? Turning right at the next intersection, he sped off towards his assumed destination. A few moments later, he arrived at Anderson Road. The street was fairly deserted, so he made minor use of his jet shoes. Looking left to right, he spotted dozens of empty lots and run-down shops. Finally, he saw, on the front of one of the larger buildings on the street, the sign that read, 'Chaotix Detective Agency.'

The sign was small, neon, and, of course, not turned on at the moment. Unlike most windows on the street, though, theirs were unbroken. Perhaps the thought of being pestered by that bee was enough to scare the thugs away. He opened the door and heard a bell ringing above his head. Immediately, he was greeted face-to-face by Charmy. "Welcome to Chaotix Detective Agency. If you've got a question we'll..." the bee looked at who he was addressing and seemed a bit disappointed. "...answer it. Shadow, what are you doing here?" he asked in a whining voice.

"Are Vector or Espio here?"

The bee's disappointed tone turned to an indignant one. "Why? Can't you talk to me? Am I not important enough?"

Rolling his eyes, Shadow pushed Charmy aside, much to Charmy's displeasure, and walked into the back room. As he had expected, the room was fairly disorganized. The furniture of the room consisted of a desk, a bulletin board on the back wall, and a filing cabinet to Shadow's right. All across the floor were strewn papers, old wrappers, empty CD cases, and even a blackening banana peel in the corner. At the desk sat Vector, reclining in a small chair, fast asleep with his headphones blaring rock music. Shadow approached the desk knowing that no amount of noise would wake him up. Perhaps, he thought, the absence of noise would do the trick. He came up behind the slumbering crocodile and reached for his headphones. As he was pulling them off, he heard Charmy shout, "No!" before he was grabbed around the neck by the newly wakened croc.

"Charmy," said Vector, in a tone more furious than Shadow had ever heard him in. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Do not interrupt me while I'm napping!"

"But Boss!"

"I don't want to hear it!" screamed Vector, his grip around Shadow's neck tightening. "This time, you're gonna pay!"

Shadow could not signal Vector of his mistaken identity, nor could he reach his Chaos Emerald. He certainly did not want to hurt Vector, but would the crocodile notice his mistake before hurting Shadow? Just as Vector opened the door, though, Espio came in, arm still in a cast, eyes wide.

"Vector, why are you choking Shadow?"

"What?" asked the crocodile, now looking at his victim. "Gah! Sorry, Shadow," he said, releasing his grip.

Massaging his neck, Shadow replied, "If that's what you do to Charmy when he misbehaves, I may have to call child-protective services."

Vector gave a toothy nervous grin. "Heh, sorry. I wasnt expecting you." His expression became normal again. "Was there something you needed?"

After clearing his throat, Shadow replied, "Yes, I needed to know how you know Officer Sells. I want to know if what you know about him is enough to convince me that he's not the killer."

Vector looked nervous again. "Er, what makes you think we know him?"

His eyelids lowered. "Because the night of the first murder, you called him by name and acted as if you had been in trouble with him before."

The crocodile appeared even more nervous. "Eh, well of course! H-He caught us, uh, sp-speeding a couple of times, y'know?"

Shadow was, needless to say, unconvinced. He dropped all friendliness and glared at Vector as if he were a prisoner being interrogated. The crocodile's green face flushed red. His breathing became shallow and he was trying to avoid looking Shadow in the eye. Espio stepped in front of him, a much calmer expression on his face. "What Vector is trying to say is that we recognize Sells, but we don't know him particularly well. Sells says that he joined the force a couple of months ago. If you suspect him of being the murderer, we would vouch for him. We know him well enough to say that he's not the type."

Shadow's gaze steadied. Espio's account was certainly convincing, but the fact that Vector had acted in such a manner was enough to convince Shadow that something was up. "Fine," he said, turning to walk out the door. "But I still have my eye on him. Also, keep in mind that everyone, including those present in this room are also suspects. What I mean is that I'm a suspect as well." He opened the door and stepped through. "I'll see you when we make plans for the gala," he said as the door closed. As he walked out of the building, he heard a loud thump followed by a cry of pain from Vector.

He began to walk home. If Sells really was trustworthy, then none of his previous suspicions could be correct. Then it hit him. The riddle was made before marriage had ever been brought up. What was Shadow so concerned about?

Shadow stopped dead in his tracks. Could it be that Sonic had made the riddle then brought up the subject to make Shadow suspect one of his friends? It seemed impossible, the famous Sonic the Hedgehog committing a mass murder to spite Shadow the Hedgehog. Please, Sonic wouldn't, no, couldn't kill anyone.

It was more likely Eggman. He had disappeared for a while, and was taking down Sonic's friends one-by-one. That would explain how the killer was so resourceful. Also, the capsule that launched Sonic off of the tower was a dead giveaway. Still, why the sudden shift from loud and egotistical to quiet and precise?

At that moment, Shadow's cell phone rang. This time, he was not worried. The killer would not be calling him until after the gala. Of course, the number was Rouge's. He opened the phone and greeted, "Hello."

"Hey," she said softly. "Are you okay now?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for walking out on you like that. I suppose the stress is catching up with me."

"It's okay. Could you come back to the club? We need to talk about what we're going to do for the gala."

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes," he said. With a farewell from either side, he began to walk towards the club. At least he knew that no one there was under suspicion... right?

**Okay, I'll see you guys when I get back. So long. To give you a hint as to where I'm going, aloha.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hooray! I'm back! My trip was just super special awesome! Oh boy, I can't wait to read all of those helpful and nice reviews that you people sent me and-... 2 reviews?... Both from The Sky Hedgehogian Maestro?... Well, okay. I was kind of expecting a few more since I've been away for almost a week, but that's okay. Let's pick up where we left off, shall we? Enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 17: Okay, Shoot

Shadow stared through a pair of night vision binoculars. The Gilded Crescent Ballroom appeared in a green outline. The last of a long train of green people disappeared into the front door of the regal two-story building. Everyone else was already set up and all plans were laid.

At their meeting, they had learned that the city wanted their security guards and police officers to be the ones to catch the killer. Apparently, they wished to show the citizens that they could catch a killer without anyone's aid. Shadow and the others, obviously, had different plans. Amy, Cream, and Charmy would not be part of this setup due to their lack of experience or ability in a stealth mission. Sells had agreed to be their man on the inside, giving them information on the night's events. With a police officer aiding them, both parties would be satisfied. Of course, the city would be pleased to hear this when the killer was caught, but for now, this information was kept from them. The rest were each dressed in all black surrounding the building at key positions.

The Ballroom was at the top of the T intersection of Gerald Road and Crowns Boulevard, facing the former, sitting on the latter. Knuckles was atop the building to the right of it, ready to thrash the killer if he came out of the front. His gliding ability and powerful attacks would be invaluable for a first strike. Espio was on the building behind it with his more accurate eyes and shuriken, ready to hit the perpetrator if he came out of the back. Sonic and Shadow were poised on either side of Crowns Boulevard to race after the killer if either of the others missed. Rouge and Vector would be their eyes in the sky in a disguised G.U.N. helicopter in case he still got past them. If all else failed, yet they knew where the killer was, Omega would be dropped in from the helicopter, guns blazing.

Shadow looked at his watch. The Gala had started twenty minutes ago. Sells' voice came on his walkie-talkie. "Nothing to report yet. Everyone is still settling in, but the speeches should begin in a few minutes."

"Copy that," said Rouge.

"Ask security if all of the guests have arrived," said Shadow.

"Will do, over and out," replied Sells.

Shadow continued to scan the street for activity. Apart from the valet taking cars to their spaces, there was nothing that he could see worth reporting. There was a couple walking out of a nearby resteraunt. They were worth keeping an eye on, but nothing more. A limousine drove down the dimly lit street; it turned and drove towards Sonic's end of the road, then turned right down the next road. There was a homeless person who passed below Shadow. Finally, Sells' voice came on again.

"All present and accounted for. The mayor should be giving his speech in just a few minutes."

"Thanks," replied Shadow, and he went back to watching. If everyone was there, then whoever walked in from this point on was a high candidate for suspicion. So far, he could see no one approaching the front door.

Knuckles seemed to be reading Shadow's mind as he asked Espio, "All clear up front, anything in the back?"

"No," came the reply. "All of the back exits are clear and closed."

Soon, a helicopter came into view. Though difficult to see in the night sky, it was a navy blue with the white letters S.S.N.H.T. This was meant to stand for Station Square Night Helicopter Tours. It was the helicopter that Vector and Rouge would be watching from. The large doors would be dropping the walking arsenal Omega in an emergency. For now though, it was flying overhead, its chopping propellers still audible from Shadow's position.

Remembering the task at hand, he returned to staring through his night vision binoculars. Thirty minutes passed before Sells' next report came through the speakers. "The speeches have just ended. They're proceeding to the dancing and singing acts."

"Keep an eye on people wearing wedding rings," advised Shadow.

"Will do, but, frankly, there's a lot of those in here."

Shadow sighed. That killer just couldn't make things easy, could he? He shrugged off the thought and focused on his objective. He continued scanning the road, looking off to the side occasionally. It was a painfully tedious task, but one, he reminded himself, that needed to be done. From time to time, he heard the others asking and answering questions, checking up on each other, Sonic even cracked a joke in his boredom. It came with bad reception from the others, particularly Sells and Shadow. Other than that, there was nothing to do but wait.

A few minutes later, Sells announced that everyone was eating and drinks were being served. There were a few toasts raised, apparently. Espio reported a man walking out of the kitchen door, but he seemed to be merely taking in some fresh air. Would the monotony never end?

The Gala would last for at least another hour before everyone would return home. If Shadow were the killer, that would be the ideal time for him to strike. At that time, there would be a large crowd, and it would be difficult to see a stray knife or gun. When the person was killed, they could just as easily drop their weapon and run with the others. Thankfully, Omega could probably use the Will Enforcer at that time to keep all of the people wrangled up. If anyone kept running, it would not be difficult for one of Shadow's friends to break off and keep them in the area.

"Heads up, people, I think there's going to be an important toast. It looks like the district attorney" said Sells.

"Are you entirely sure? If it's a special one, we might want to watch out," said Rouge.

"Yes, it's definitely him. He's ringing his glass with a spoon. He's not wearing a wedding ring, so I think he's safe."

Shadow was not particularly interested. All that really mattered was what happened after the Gala was over. That was, he thought, the most logical time to make a move.

"Wait a minute, he's asking a woman next to him to stand up."

What did that matter? There was plenty to celebrate in two hundred years of a city's history, so why not have someone in particular recognized?

"He's getting down on a knee, wait a minute-"

Shadow heard Sells yelling and other screams. He turned off the night vision in his goggles and looked through one of the windows into the dining room. Sells was pushing and shoving past people, while a man was on a knee, holding a standing woman's hand.

"Get out of the way! Get down!"

Sells tackled the two of them as the window Shadow was looking through shattered and a flash of light briefly erupted from a window on Shadow's right. With no time to lose, Shadow dropped his binoculars and raced across the roof that he was sitting on. "I saw the shot! I'm going to try and cut him off!" he shouted into his walkie-talkie. With a large jump, he crossed the gap between his building and the one that he had seen the light from. "Chaos Control!" he shouted, pulling the green Chaos Emerald from his clothing.

A split second later, he appeared at the bottom of the building that he had formerly been standing on. "Shadow!" called Espio's voice. "I have the trajectory from the shot; it should have come from the fifth floor of that building!"

"On my way," Shadow responded and burst through the door of the building. A few of the people sitting in chairs gasped as Shadow crossed the room as quickly as he possibly could to a door which, according to the sign, was a stairwell. "Don't let anybody leave!" he yelled at the people in the room. He nearly pulled the door off its hinges and raced up the stairs faster than any marathon runner could ever dream of doing.

When he reached the fifth floor, he burst through the door into the hallway. There were doors on either side of the hall. Ignoring the inside ones, he began kicking in those facing the outside. First room; desk, bulletin board, red Mobian, closed and blinded window. No sign of anything dangerous. He ran to the next door and kicked it open; office space, no occupants, closed and unblinded window, poor view of the Ballroom, open and empty cabinets. The next door came and was kicked open; long desk, several chairs, five human men, closed window, slightly obstructed view of the Ballroom, nothing underneath the desk. Another door and another kick; office, open window, good view of Ballroom, desk, long silver briefcase. "Bingo," he said under his breath.

He crossed the green and blue carpeting toward the window. Now that he had found what he was looking for, he had more time to look at details. Getting down on his knees, he searched the floor for anything that might confirm his suspicion about the room. When he turned more toward the door, he saw it. About five feet from the door and two inches from the desk was the small shell casing from the round shot at the Ballroom. Either the killer was being incredibly sloppy, or the room was only set up to make it look like it had happened from here. Whether the first or the second was correct, he would ask Espio if the trajectory of the shot placed it from that window.

Standing back up, he placed the shell casing on the desk and looked at what else was on it. Apart from the long briefcase that he had seen earlier, there was nothing on it that you wouldn't expect from a normal office. A computer sat there with a blank screen, there was a coffee mug with a few pencils in it, a few pictures of a human family, and a few sloppily strewn papers. Curiosity peaking, he undid the latches on the briefcase and opened it.

He stepped back, eyes wide. Sitting in the now-open silver briefcase was an M24 sniper rifle. It was the very same rifle that had been in Rouge's possession.

**Hooray! More frustrating plot twists! So, did Sells survive? Could this mean that the killer is closer to Shadow than he thought? Will all of these questions be answered in the next chapter? Well, you can bet on the last one being a yes. Have a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day! (That's where I went)**


	18. Chapter 18

**What up, internet? Holy crap, guys. I am so sorry this took so long. A combination of final exams and writers block just came up and slapped me in the face. I really hope you can forgive me and, of course, enjoy.**

Act I: Scream

Chapter 18: A Confirmed Suspicion

He stared in disbelief. Rouge's sniper rifle? The weapon sitting before him belonged to one of his best friends? He checked it for a sign of identification. M24 was the standard issue G.U.N. rifle, but would Rouge receive something different? Sure enough, just below 'M24' on the gun read 'G.U.N.' Since it was doubtful that that shot had been ordered by the military, it seemed very likely that this was the rifle that had been in Rouge's briefcase.

Shadow picked the weapon up to examine it. Bolt-action, that would explain the shell casing on the floor. A silencer; no wonder the shot couldn't be heard. There were hardly any markings on it at all. The scope was slightly askew; that could mean the killer had rushed to put it back in the briefcase. He checked the shell casing on the floor; it was a .338 Lapua Magnum. Whoever fired definitely had military connections, and certainly training. To shoot through a window and at a target with that kind of accuracy-

He immediately forgot about the bullet. What had happened? Immediately, he grabbed his walkie-talkie and spoke. "What happened in there? Is everyone alright?"

No answer came. He gritted his teeth in frustration and closed the rifle's case. If they were going to search the scene, it would have to be exactly as he had found it. It was then that he realized what a foolish mistake it was to put the shell on the desk. Trying to remember where he had found it, a few people began walking nervously towards the room. Placing it where he thought he had found it, he spoke to them. "It's alright. There's been an assassination attempt made from this room."

A few concerned or fearful looks appeared on some of their faces. "I need you to call the police and not let anyone leave the building." They continued to stare at him, stupefied. He became a bit annoyed and asked, "Can anyone tell me whose office this is?" For a few seconds, he was afraid that no one would answer him, as if he was talking to cardboard cutouts.

Finally, one of them asked, "Who are you?" This aroused them out of their trances.

"Wait, aren't you Shadow the Hedgehog? That guy who's trying to stop that killer that calls you?"

"Yes, I am. Now could you please answer my questions?" Shadow asked in an annoyed tone.

One of them raised his hand. "Sorry, this is Scott Allen's office. He left a few hours ago, though."

"And none of you saw him come back in?" asked Shadow. The people simply looked at each other. "That's what I thought. Are there security cameras on this floor?"

"Yeah," said a human in overalls and a red shirt. He appeared to be the janitor. "I can take you downstairs to security if you'd like."

"No," replied Shadow. "I need to get back to the crime scene. If you could make a copy of the tapes for this hallway from the time Mr... Allen, was it? When he left the room until I came in."

"Er... sure," replied the janitor.

"And don't let anybody back into this room. I've already tampered with this place enough." Some of them nodded in understanding. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the room using his little gem.

He reappeared on the opposite side of the street from the Ballroom. There was a huge crowd pouring out of the front doors along with an ambulance, red lights flashing. He pushed his way through a throng of gaudily dressed humans and Mobians towards the ambulance. When he finally reached it, he saw Sonic, Knuckles, and Espio surrounding a stretcher. Fearing the worst, he quickly walked the remaining distance to see the large Sells sitting up on it, a bloodstained bandage on his bare left arm.

Sonic looked up to see Shadow standing there. "Hey, what took you so long?"

The others looked up and looked at him. "Shadow, good to see you're alright," said Sells.

"Likewise," replied Shadow. He looked at the bandage on the large human's arm. "Did it go all the way through?"

The officer lifted his arm to show him a bandage in his side that Shadow hadn't noticed before. "Yeah, it went into my side a little, but they got it out just fine. Definitely not painless, but the DA and his fiancé are unharmed."

Shadow sighed in relief. "Good to know."

Espio spoke next. "Did you manage to cut him off?"

Shadow realized his mistake. "No, but I think I have the room he shot from. I'll need you to look at it to make sure it could have happened from there. I think it might be a setup."

Espio nodded. "It's going to take some difficult calculation considering the shot went through the window, but we might be able to get the angle if we know where it hit the window."

"Wait, something's kind of confusing me," said Knuckles. "I thought the killer marked their bodies with a number. How was he supposed to cut them without anyone noticing?"

While the others seemed pensive, Shadow remembered the reason and frowned. "The next body was number 38. The bullet was a .3**38 **Lapua Magnum. Get it?" The others frowned with him.

"I've just about had it with that filthy sense of humor," said Sells. "It's almost as irritating as that joke Sonic made earlier."

Knuckles stifled laughter. "Hey!" said Sonic indignantly. "I was just trying to lighten the mood a little."

"He wanted to see time fly? Really?"

"Not all jokes have to be good ones!"

Shadow cleared his throat. "Shall we get some people working on the room I found, then?"

They all nodded. Sells called to one of the paramedics for his walkie-talkie. Shadow took out his own. "Rouge, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"I need you to land the helicopter and come to the Ballroom. There's something you need to see."

"Do we not know where Sir Shootsalot is?"

"No, but we think we've got the room he shot from."

"Alright, honey. Be down in a minute."

Shadow's eyelids lowered in annoyance as Sonic tried with all of his might not to burst out laughing.

A few minutes later, a group of investigators arrived just as most of the Gala guests had left. Unfortunately, the investigator from the graveyard had also been tasked. He and Shadow exchanged looks of mild contempt as they saw each other. The investigators and other officers were carrying equipment up the stairs and speaking to some of the employees. Shadow found it difficult to even get inside the building. However, this was not entirely necessary as an officer was directing the janitor to the front door.

"You have it?" asked Shadow.

"Right here," said the janitor, producing a small video tape and giving it to Shadow. "I couldn't see anybody going in, but maybe you'll pick something up."

"Thanks," said Shadow, and he put the recorded tapes in his pocket. Soon enough, he saw Rouge flying towards the street, looking for him, he guessed. Shadow waved his arm at her to signal where he was, but she hardly needed it considering the police cars surrounding the building. She landed in front of him.

"Good news, huh? Nobody died, and we have our first lead," said Rouge.

"Actually, it's the lead that worries me," he replied. At the puzzled look on her face, he took her arm and began leading her through the mess of people inside. After a very long time trying to get up the stairs, they finally reached the fifth floor. Taking even more time to get through the crowd in the hallway, they finally reached the room. The vexing investigator was at the door.

"This room is off limits to anyone until our analysis is complete."

"I need to show this woman something. It's absolutely crucial to the case."

A smug expression came to the investigators face. "And is it so crucial that you can't wait half an hour for us to finish?"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "How's this for an answer?" and he swung his arm at the man, knocking his head against the doorframe. He sunk to the ground as Shadow and Rouge stepped over him.

"Harsh much, Shadow?" asked Rouge.

"Believe me, that guy is a huge pain in the- Oh, here it is."

They had reached the desk with the rifle sitting there, open in its case. "Do you recognize it?" asked Shadow. Rouge simply stood there, eyes wide, biting her finger nervously.

"This... could really be a problem," she said, finally.

"So it's yours, then?"

"Yep," she pointed at the scope and silencer. "I specifically requested those attachments. See that little knob on the scope? That's something they always put on my guns. It's got to be mine."

They exchanged nervous looks. "Ah, Shadow, good to see you made it." Shadow turned around to see Sells looking down at him, still wearing his bandages. "We've got something we need you to see."

He directed Shadow and Rouge to a small monitor next to the door. "This is a machine that detects energy spikes. We heard from some of the employees that you used a Chaos Control next to the door to get out of here?" Shadow nodded. "And did you use a Chaos Control to come back in?"

"No, why?"

"We detected another Chaos Energy spike near the window along with hints of it on the briefcase. It looks like whoever this killer is has the ability to use a Chaos Control."

Shadow looked shocked. "What about the angle? Is it possible that shot came from here?"

"Ballistics seems to think so," said Sells. "We don't think this Scott Allen guy is the one who shot, but we've already taken him to the station."

Shadow remained silent for a moment. "What about the Chaos Energy readings? Can you tell if they were caused by two different Emeralds?"

"No," replied Sells. "Why would that be important? I believe that there's only one of each color Emerald."

"Of course," said Shadow. "Just out of curiosity." By the look on Rouge's face, it became clear that she had caught on. "We need to leave now, if you'll excuse us."

"Sure," said Sells, and Shadow and Rouge left the room, stepping over the investigator again.

"Aren't you going to just Chaos Control us out of here?" asked Rouge, sidestepping an incoming officer.

"If I do, it might throw their Chaos readings off. We need to step outside first."

When they reached the stairwell, Rouge pulled him aside and spoke to him in a low voice. "So do you think it could be future boy?"

"Who knows? It could just as easily be Sonic."

She nodded comprehensively. Sonic was out of the question, so Silver might just as well be. But if not them... then who?

**Alright, then. Finals week, here I come! See you guys later!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello again, Internet. Well, thanks for being so patient with me during Finals week, so here's your reward: an extra long chapter. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 1: Confrontation

The man sat down on the chair as a door slammed behind him. He was a fairly short middle-aged man with brown graying hair. Now that the door had closed, there was no light left in the room. He waited for something, anything to happen in pitch-black darkness. Why had he been brought here? Had he been kidnapped?

"Scott Allen?" asked a feminine voice.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" he asked. A bright light flashed on and blinded him. He tried to look away, but it was far too bright compared to the rest of the room.

"Do you have any ideas as to why you are here?" asked the voice.

"No," said the man in a matter-of-fact tone. "You have no reason to keep me here, so let me go." He held his hand up to shield his eyes. "And turn that light off, would you?"

"First I need for you to answer a few questions," replied the voice, making a deal with him.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"What is your current occupation?"

His eyes began to adjust to the light a bit, and it seemed just a little less painful. "I work in the communications department of Green Hill Retirement Company."

"Have you had any experience in the military?"

His eyes began to water as he answered, "Yes, but it was a long time ago."

"What was your position?"

"I-I was in the army, a lieutenant. For a while, I was a sniper." Scott took his time answering to allow his eyes time to adjust even further. He began to see a faint outline of the person he was talking to.

"Are you aware of the incident that occurred not too far from the building in which you work tonight?"

"No, I left at 4 o'clock." The outline of his interrogator became more defined. "Wait, are you a Mo-"

He was cut off by the bright light being turned off. Now, not only were his eyes misted by a whitish cloud left by the light, but it would take that much longer for his eyes to adjust to darkness. He could see where this was going.

"We have seen security footage of you re-entering your office right before the incident."

He was taken aback. "That's impossible. What incident?"

"We have also found a briefcase which contained an M24 sniper rifle. That rifle was used in an assassination attempt on the District Attorney or his fiancée. Is there anything that you could tell us that could prove you are innocent?"

He thought for a moment, dumbstruck. "I-I never went back after 4:00. That should be more than enough."

There was a brief pause, then a harsh baritone voice behind him broke the silence, "Think a bit harder." The man felt a prick of pain on his back, almost like a small needle poking him.

"Th-That footage was obviously fabricated. J-Just ask one of the other employees. They'll vouch for me."

"They didn't," said the male as the pain dug a bit deeper. "Think a little harder."

"I-I would have taken the rifle with me."

"But someone obviously didn't," retorted the male. Scott let out a grunt of agony as the pain inched closer to his spine.

"I haven't picked up a gun in five years!" he half-screamed.

"Is this really the best you can come up with?" asked the male voice.

"If you're honestly stupid enough to think that it was me who went back into my office after 4:00, then yes!" A second later, he realized what a mistake this was. He closed his eyes in preparation for the pain to touch his spine, but it never did. In fact, was he going crazy, or was the pain receding?

"Alright, that'll be enough," said the male in a much more casual tone. By now, the pain had completely vanished from Scott's back. "Rouge, turn the light on so he can see us." The light came back on, but this time, was directed more towards the desk.

Sitting at the desk was, as he had guessed, a Mobian. It appeared to be the owner of the female voice; a white bat with blue eyes wearing all black. Coming from behind him was a black hedgehog with red stripes. Interesting, he had never seen stripes like that on a hedgehog's quills. He too, was wearing all black. Scott guessed that with young people, black was the new black.

"We apologize for doing this to you, but we needed to know beyond the shadow of a doubt," said the bat. "We lied about the security footage and your friends not vouching for you, but we needed as much information on the attempt as we could get."

"Oh," he said after a few seconds of regaining his composure. "Of course, a military man like myself would understand. Good thinking, too. But why didn't you just ask me?"

"The mind remembers things best in moments of pain or stress," said the hedgehog. Scott now noticed that the hedgehog had red eyes. Ominous, but they did not seem so threatening with the tone of voice the hedgehog was speaking to him in. "However, too much pain and you wouldn't be able to concentrate. We had to know when to stop so that you would be able to focus and, of course, forgive us afterward."

"Not to worry," said Scott in a hearty voice. "I went through much worse than that when the Shamars imprisoned me. They had their tools, but I never talked."

"You were never deployed to Shamar during the war," retorted the hedgehog. "If you're going to make up stories, it should be for your grandchildren in Westopolis."

Scott cleared his throat. He should have known they'd done a background check. "You can go now," said the bat. He quickly got up and did just that.

"Well, he was a goldmine," said Shadow sarcastically.

"Oh well," said Rouge. "We really should have expected it to go something like that." Shadow crossed the room and opened the door. "Going somewhere?" she asked.

"What time is it?" he asked.

She looked at her watch. "8:50, the Gala started almost 2 hours ago. Weird how time flies, huh?"

"I need to pay 'future boy' a visit. If I need you, I'll call."

She considered this for a moment. "Alright, but be careful. If he's the killer, we both know what he can do. Also, he's got that copy Emerald."

He stood there and thought. "On second thought, you should probably come with me. He's got a friend who we don't even know."

She smiled and got up. "Should I call Omega for backup?"

He nodded as she walked out of the door. As they exited the police station, he began to rethink his previous suspicions. Sells seemed completely out of the question now because he had been the one to save the DA. Silver seemed all the more likely now because of the Chaos Energy found in the room. If only they could tell whether the same Emerald was used. Then Eggman came to mind. Of course, the Doctor could not use Chaos Control, but what about one of his creations?

His head jerked up in realization. "Something wrong?" asked Rouge. He remembered where they were going and shook his head. "What street is it on?"

"Salazar Street," he replied.

"Salazar Street," she said into her walkie-talkie.

"Understood," replied Omega on the other end.

Shadow had to restrain himself from shouting it out: Metal Sonic. It all fit, the voice, the technology, the Chaos Energy. Why didn't he see it before? That explained why they hadn't seen the Doctor in so long. He had been rebuilding Metal Sonic for the sole purpose of destroying Shadow. But wait, why would the Doctor want him gone? Perhaps he simply wanted to pick off Sonic's friends one-by-one and Shadow seemed the hardest to do. Maybe he wanted to break Shadow's mind and use him as his puppet against Sonic. Yes, that made sense. Well, the Doctor would have to do a lot better than that to break Shadow. Metal Sonic had failed to kill for the past two attempts. But the question remained, would the Doctor really stoop so low as to murder innocents even in a quest for world domination? He was about to present his theory to Rouge when she said, "Is that it over there?"

He looked at the building she was pointing at. 152 Salazar Street, Blaze's Cafe. "Yeah, that's it."

They went to the door to see that most of the lights were off except for those in the kitchen. Shadow tried opening the door, locked. "Allow me," said Rouge. She took out a small harpoon-like instrument about the size of a pen. Despite having used it on nearly all of the locked doors that they had come across on missions, she still refused to tell Shadow where she had found it. Apparently, it wasn't a G.U.N.-approved instrument, but they never confiscated it.

Within seconds, the door had been unlocked by her little wonder tool, and they were in. They walked into the darkened contemporary cafe. As soon as they did, though, the kitchen light went out and they were stuck in the darkness. Rouge took his hand and began leading him through the darkness. Being a bat, her echolocation was most invaluable during dark missions. However, in a few seconds, Shadow's alien eyes adjusted to the darkness and Rouge released his hand. They walked through the kitchen door and past Silver's work station. Finally finding the exit door, they walked out of the building just in time to see Silver walking out of the alley.

Deciding not to make a big deal out of it, they followed him at a walking pace. When they too had exited the alley, they saw that he was walking with his feline friend, Blaze. After a few steps, however, Silver called out, "I know that you are following us." Shadow and Rouge froze. They were trained stealth agents. How had that kid heard them?

Silver and Blaze turned around. Blaze looked as if she were ready to pounce, but Silver stopped her as soon as he recognized them. "Oh, it's you. Sorry about that, I didn't recognize you."

The two pairs approached each other. Blaze looked wary, but Silver approached them as if they were long-lost friends. "Silver, who are these two?" asked Blaze. Silver looked like he was about to introduce them, but then remembered they had never given them their names.

"My name is Light," said Shadow.

Rouge caught the meaning and introduced herself using her alias, "Jaune." They had chosen the names because light is the opposite of shadow and as rouge means red in French, jaune means yellow.

Silver gave them a hesitant look, then said, "This is Blaze. But I suppose I already told you that." Blaze gave him a look that said, 'What do you mean, 'I already told you that?'

"We need to talk to you about the murders. Privately." said Shadow.

Silver looked at Blaze who nodded. "Okay, let's go back to the kitchen," he said slowly.

The four of them walked towards the alley. Something about the way Silver was walking put Shadow off. He turned to Rouge who gave him an understanding look. Soon enough, they reached the door. Silver reached for the doorknob. Suddenly, his hand began glowing. Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald, but an instant too late. The door had started to glow as well and was soon ripped off its hinges and flying at Shadow and Rouge. Shadow gripped Rouge's hand and shouted, "Chaos Control!"

A second later, the two of them reappeared at the end of the alley that they had just exited. They had a split second before a gigantic fireball was sent flying at their heads. The pair ducked as the fireball crashed into a building on the other side of the street. Back in the alley, Silver's eyes and hands were glowing a light green and Blaze's hands were engulfed in flame.

"I'll take Princess Vesuvius, you take care of Lord Neon," said Rouge.

Silver used his psychokinesis, or that was what Shadow thought it was, to raise up chunks of concrete from the ground. They were soon flying at Shadow and Rouge who dodged with the grace of experience. The present duo began to run at the future couple. More fireballs began erupting from Blaze's hands, but this time, Shadow returned fire with a barrage of Chaos Spears. Both groups dodged as Shadow and Rouge met Silver and Blaze in the center of the alley.

Shadow punched at Silver's chest, but Silver crossed his arms in front of him in defense. The silver hedgehog retaliated with a punch to Shadow's face which was dodged. Shadow immediately countered with an elbow to Silver's stomach. Silver was sent a few feet back before landing on his back. Soon enough, the hedgehog was back on his feet and charging at Shadow. Silver tried to punch Shadow in the chest, but Shadow leaned back to dodge it. Using the unbalance caused by Silver's charge, Shadow punched the hedgehog in the stomach and lifted him over his own bent form. Silver skidded on his face behind Shadow then got back up. If one thing was clear to both of them at this point, it was that Shadow had the advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

This time, instead of charging, Silver jumped back and began glowing again. More chunks of concrete rose up from the ground and began flying at Shadow. These, unlike the last ones, were small and difficult to dodge. A few of them hit Shadow and knocked him off of his feet. Shadow was back on his feet a split second before a large chunk of concrete crashed into the space that he had just been lying on. Now another thing was clear: Silver had the advantage in long-range attacks. Just as Silver produced a new hoard of concrete projectiles, Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald and said, "Chaos Control!"

The concrete chunks froze in front of Shadow. Moving quickly, he ran around them and towards Silver. If he interfered with anything caught in the Control, time would unfreeze. Briefly looking to his left, he saw that Rouge seemed to be holding her own against Blaze. Returning his gaze to Silver, he ran slightly to the right of the glowing hedgehog and delivered a hard kick to the back of Silver's head. As time returned, Silver was once again skidding on his face.

He soon got up and pulled out his own Chaos Emerald. Shadow stared at the other green Emerald. Would something different happen if a Chaos Control was used by two of the same Emerald? With a charging Silver, he had little time to think. Simultaneously, the two hedgehogs raised their Emeralds and shouted, "Chaos-"

"Enough," shouted a robotic voice. The two battling hedgehogs turned towards the voice. In the middle of the alleyway, Omega was standing with his arm around Blaze's neck, his robotic hand-turned-gun pointed at her head. "Surrender or your comrade will die," said Omega.

Silver clenched his fists. Reluctantly, he raised his hands in surrender. Shadow approached him from behind and delivered a blow to the pressure point at the base of his neck. Instantly, the hedgehog fell unconscious to the ground. Shadow began to think his theory would need revision.

**Well, there you go; the first fight scene. Happy first chapter of Act II. Since I'm on Christmas break now, expect more updates and less excuses. Au revoir.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! It's December 21! You know what that means. Time to read a crappy murder mystery about a fictional video game character written by a nerdy high school boy. Ah, sometimes we forget the true reason for the season. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 2: Silver's Testimony

Shadow glanced over his shoulder at the unconscious form of Silver. For reasons they were about to find out, he and his friend Blaze had just attacked Rouge and himself. "How much longer do you think he's going to be out?" he asked Omega.

"Sensors indicate that his heartbeat and brain activity have begun to rise. It should not be long," replied Omega. As a precaution, Silver and Blaze were tied up in chairs with Omega pointing his machine gun hands at them. They had decided that it would be better to question the two of them themselves without involving the police. If they were who they said they were, they didn't want anyone else to know about it. If they were who Shadow now thought they were, they could easily be taken to the station.

"Are you alright?" he asked, turning back to Rouge. She had sustained a few cuts and burns.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I gave Hello Kitty over there some pretty nice hits, too. Our fighting styles were so different; she uses her hands and I use my feet. It was so unbalanced that we mainly just took turns hitting each other. That is, until Omega dropped in and gave future boy something to chew on."

The two of them looked at Omega, smiling. Omega simply stood there like a metallic statue. No expressions, no emotions, standing guard over the fallen opponents.

Shadow turned to Rouge. Should he tell her about his other theory? It was probably their best lead because of their previous work and experience with the Doctor. Then again, even he was starting to have doubts ever since Silver attacked them. Rouge turned to him, "Something wrong?" she asked. He shook his head and looked back to the captives; one suspect at a time. Also, Omega might jump at the chance to blame one of the Doctor's robots.

After about a minute, the fallen opponents began to stir. Silver opened his eyes, temporarily oblivious to his situation. However, a few seconds gave him enough time to figure it out.

"Release me!" he said, struggling at the ropes that bound him to the chair. He turned to his left and saw Blaze tied to the other chair. "Both of us!" Then his head perked up in shock. "And my Chaos Emerald! Return that as well! You have no right to it!"

"Do you mean this Chaos Emerald?" asked Shadow, pulling out a green Emerald from his quills. "Or this one?" he asked, using his other hand to pull out another green Emerald from his quills. "Which one is it, I wonder, that I don't have a right to?" Silver began thrashing violently at the ropes. "If I were you, I'd stop struggling and stay put," said Shadow.

"Why should I listen to a word you-" Silver was cut off by a bullet whizzing past his head from behind.

"That's why," said Rouge with a smirk.

Blaze opened her eyes. She looked to her right at Silver who said, "Don't struggle, they have guns trained on us."

"And I'd turn your hand-stoves off, too," said Rouge, indicating the burning smoking rope at the cat's sides. Immediately, the smoking stopped.

"One more thing," said Shadow. "Even if you use your psychokinesis on the guns back there..." he pulled a Desert Eagle from its holster. "There are others that we can shoot you with." Normally, Shadow didn't resort to guns, but he needed this maverick kept in line.

Silver looked determined to remain as uncooperative as possible when he asked, "What do you want from us?"

"It's very simple," replied Shadow. "Why did you attack us?"

"You know perfectly well why! You're the killers!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "And what sort of proof do you have towards that ingenious conclusion?"

"Don't play stupid with me!" shouted Silver. "You lied to us! Those names you gave us were fakes!"

Shadow frowned. "Really? So if those were fake names, then what are our real ones?" Silver opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it and began staring angrily at the floor. This had been the wrong thing to say. "How do you know that those were fake names if you don't know our real ones?"

Even Blaze began to look quizzically at Silver. "I... can't tell you," said Silver slowly.

"What a pity," said Shadow, stepping towards him.

"Don't touch him!" said Blaze. "He means he really can't-"

"Perhaps you know what our names are," said Shadow, turning to Blaze. She stared at him crossly. "I'll take that as a 'no' then?" She continued to stare at him. "If so, then shall I assume that he has some sort of mind-reading powers as well?" There was a long pause.

"No," said Silver. "I can't read minds, but I know that you lied to us all the same."

"How?" asked Shadow. "If you can't tell us what our real names are, then how could you do something as bold as attacking us in the open without knowing our real names?"

"I already told you, I can't-"

"Why not, then? Do you have a lie detector hidden in your quills? Is there some sort of innate sense of false identification that you have? Lucky guess?"

"It doesn't matter! You're a liar and a murderer!"

"Very well, let's say we did lie," said Shadow. "Why attack us? Did it ever occur to you that we might simply be using aliases because we aren't trusting anyone who we just met?"

Silver flinched. Apparently, he hadn't thought that far into it. "Also, you could have simply told us that you weren't fooled and knew those weren't our real names." This was met with another long pause. "Maybe I overestimated you; you might be too stupid to be the killer."

"Shut up!" shouted Silver. "I didn't search through mountains of rubble and bodies to go back in time and have you tell me I'm stupid! Do you have any idea what it's like to look into the cold lifeless eyes of an innocent girl and know that there was nothing that you could do about it?" a tear streamed down Silver's face.

Shadow turned away. He tried to keep his face as stoic as possible while a solitary tear came down his own face. "Yes," he said slowly.

This was enough to silence the entire room for a very long time. Not a word was spoken between anyone. Shadow kept his back turned to his prisoners. After what seemed like hours, Rouge walked to Shadow and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He turned his head towards her and nodded. Then, he turned back to Silver and said, "You certainly like to hit where it hurts. Maybe you are the killer, after all."

"No, no I'm not," said Silver.

"Can you prove it to us?"

"Isn't that second Chaos Emerald enough to prove to you that we're from the future?"

Shadow considered this for a moment. "And how were you able to cross that much time with only one Emerald?"

"We-"

"Silver, no!" said Blaze.

"We don't have a choice, Blaze. If we can't prove we're from the future, he'll never let us go," said Silver.

"But what if he's the killer? If he knows, it'll only make things worse for this world."

"Tell me something, sweetie," said Rouge. "Do you know why the murder has been killing?" No reply. "Every time he does it, he calls one person's cell phone and leaves clues about the next murder in the bodies. If the killer goes through fifty victims without being caught, the one closest to that person will die. This whole thing is centered around one person."

"Who?" asked Silver.

"Have you ever heard of someone named Shadow the Hedgehog?"

The prisoners thought for a moment. "Oh yes!" said Blaze. "He saved Westopolis and the world from the alien attack. Is he the one the killer's after?"

"Now you're starting to get it," said Rouge.

"Then isn't it possible that the aliens are responsible for these killings?"

Shadow glared at her. He leaned over and spoke softly but tensely. "I can assure you that I obliterated every last trace of those disgusting creatures and that no life form in the universe will be plagued by them again."

Silver and Blaze's eyes widened in shock. "You-You're Shadow the Hedgehog?" asked Silver.

"In the flesh," replied Shadow.

Another silence followed. "Wait," said Blaze. "How can you prove to us that you're the real Shadow and not a fake?"

"Very simply," replied Shadow. "Silver, do you get the feeling that Shadow is my real name?"

The silver hedgehog looked a bit surprised, but slowly answered, "Yes. It's the same kind of feeling that I got when you told me your name was Light. Only this time, it feels like you're telling the truth."

Shadow nodded. "And you know what this probably means, then?"

"Yes," said Silver. "You must be the hero that turned insane and wiped out the Earth."

Blaze looked at Shadow in disbelief. "I can't believe it. The person solely responsible for the destruction of everything in the world is standing right in front of me."

"No, Blaze," said Silver. "It's the killer that drove him insane. If it wasn't these deaths, then that killer did something else that made him do it. We have to do whatever we can to stop this madman and save Shadow. Then, our time will return to peace and life."

"But first," said Shadow. "How did you return from the future with only one Emerald?"

Silver looked at Blaze who nodded. "It wasn't only one Emerald. There is a second one in our cafe."

Shadow nodded. "That's what I thought. Long-term time travel is impossible even with one of the Chaos Emeralds. It requires at least two, though now I think I can assume that Blaze can use it, too."

Blaze looked a bit surprised. "What makes you think that?"

Shadow was puzzled. "Didn't the two of you use it to enter the time portal?" They shook their heads. "But a long-term time travel requires two or more Chaos Wielders. Were you able to do it by yourself, Silver?" He nodded. "Interesting, I suppose you will be a good ally," said Shadow, cutting the ropes that bound them. "Because I have a new idea, and I think it fits pretty well."

**There you go. I'll try to get the next chapter up on Christmas Eve. If not, then Merry Christmas! (If you were legitimately offended by that, please go see someone about sensitivity issues)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Merry Christmas, Internet. Just to commemorate this time of year, I'll be putting off the bloody murder for this chapter. Hohoho, enjoy!**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 3: The Next Conundrum

Rouge stepped backwards; her hand covered her mouth. As a few seconds passed, Shadow could tell that it was making more and more sense to her. Omega stood behind the newly-freed prisoners, his fists clenched and shaking with fury. Silver and Blaze stood there waiting for someone to explain what Shadow had just said. When none came, Silver asked, "Who or what is Metal Sonic?"

"He's a robotic copy of the famous hero Sonic the Hedgehog. His creator is named Ivo Robotnik, but those who take him less seriously call him Doctor Eggman," explained Shadow.

Blaze giggled at the nickname. "Why do they call him that?" she asked.

"His bodily shape is similar to an egg," explained Omega. "He is also my creator and primary target for destruction."

"Wait, if he created you, why did you not serve him?" asked Silver.

"Eggman got tired of how his series of robots was going and locked him away," said Rouge. "Shadow and I found him and we've been teammates ever since."

"So why is Eggman less disappointed in Metal Sonic?" asked Silver.

"Who knows?" asked Shadow. "He's failed to defeat Sonic every time. My guess is that he keeps him around to keep the fire burning for his hatred of Sonic."

"And why does he hate Sonic?" asked Blaze.

"Blue Boy's foiled Eggman's take-over-the-world schemes more than a few times," said Rouge. "It practically drove him crazy."

"This time, I think it really did," said Shadow.

"Wait," began Silver. "If this Eggman is so bent on world conquest, is he not already guilty of mass murder? Has he not already killed someone?"

"He prefers to intimidate people into submission," said Shadow. "The Doctor is not much into killing unless it is someone who gets in his way which is why Sonic is his number one target."

"And you think that this Metal Sonic is the one committing these murders on Eggman's orders?" asked Silver.

"The last attempt was a sniper shot from an office window. When we searched that office, we found traces of Chaos Energy in the room and on the rifle. Our guess is that Metal Sonic, the only one of the Doctor's robots with the ability to use Chaos Energy, used Chaos Controls to enter and leave the room. Also, in the skyscraper incident, a good deal of Eggman-esque technology was used. The fact that there have never been any fingerprints only serves to affirm this."

"Wait Shadow," said Omega. "You said that you had a face-to-face encounter with the villain, were you able to see his glowing red eyes?"

Shadow thought for a moment. Recalling the blurry silhouette by the broken window, he remembered not seeing any eyes at all. "No," he admitted.

"I am inclined to believing that one of Eggman's robots is responsible, but one must twist theories to suit facts instead of twisting facts to suit theories."

Shadow nodded. "Alright," said Rouge. "We'll put a pin in that theory. Right now, we need to work on stopping the next death." She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. "We got the next riddle from poking around a little more in the office." She began to read,

"My voice is tender, my waist is slender; I'm often invited to play.

Yet wherever I go, I must take my bow, or else I have nothing to say."

They began to think. "Perhaps it is a girl who loves to wear bows in her hair?" proposed Silver.

Shadow and Rouge smirked. "It's about at this point when I go to see my friend, Jen," said Shadow.

"Who is Jen?" asked Blaze.

"A cat with a thing for riddles," explained Rouge. "She's the real reason we've been able to figure this stuff out. We just met her when this killer stuff started, and Shadow thinks he's the only one that can talk to her."

"Did I ever say that?" asked Shadow.

"Wait," said Silver. "If you just met her, does that not raise the question as to whether she is the killer?"

"We thought so too," said Shadow. After a moment of thinking, he said, "Why don't you come to meet her with me, Silver? You seem to be able to have a feeling for whether somebody's doing something right or not."

"Well," said Silver. "I suppose that I could try it, but remember I'm not a telepathic."

"Wait," said Blaze. "Are you sure that this is safe?"

"Don't worry, Blaze," said Rouge. "Shadow will make sure Silver doesn't go running off with some other cat."

"That's not what I meant," said Blaze, her cheeks flushing slightly. "I mean, what if she's the killer? Doesn't that put the two of you at risk?"

"Silver is a formidable fighter," said Shadow. "He can handle himself." Blaze thought for a moment, then nodded. "Rouge, may we have the riddle?"

"Oh, sure," said Rouge, handing the paper to Shadow. "We'll keep thinking about it just in case even Professor Pussycat can't help us."

The two hedgehogs nodded, then left the room. "Where are we, anyway?" asked Silver as they stepped into the main room of the club.

"This is Club Rouge. You can guess why we call it that." They left the club and began walking down the street.

"So where do we find this Jen?" asked Silver.

"I usually find her in the park. It's down this way."

They continued walking down the street and began talking to each other. "This world is so beautiful. The weather may be turning cold, but I feel as if I am feeling life as I never have before," said Silver.

"I have a question," said Shadow. "When we first met you, you said that it had been centuries since the hero, or maybe I, began destroying everything. Are you sure that it was centuries?"

"To be honest, I don't really think so. Blaze's parents always told us that it had been that long, but how would they know that if they weren't there when it began?"

"Why only Blaze's parents? You referred to 'our parents' when we first met."

"Well, they took me in as their son, but my parents had been dead for quite some time."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." A long silence followed which was interrupted when they finally reached their destination.

"So now that we're here, what does Jen look like?" asked Silver.

"She's a brown cat, but while Blaze's edges are more sharp, like on her tail, Jen's are more rounded and smooth. Also, she likes to wear black or simple clothing."

As they walked around the park, Shadow occasionally had to remind Silver not to be so distracted by the 'beauty' of this world. "Was your time really that different that you have to stop every two minutes to marvel at ours?" asked Shadow.

"Sorry," said Silver. "It's just that I always get so caught up with my mission that I don't really get to appreciate how beautiful this all is. My whole life, I saw fewer and fewer people because they were always dying. Seeing this many people simply walking around enjoying their lives is... astounding." Shadow nodded in understanding. "Wait, is that her over there?"

He pointed towards a brown cat in jeans and a black tank top. She was carrying a small case, likely one of her instruments. "Yes, I believe that is her," he replied, and the two walked up to her.

As soon as they came within a few feet of her, she turned and smiled. "Hey, Shadow! Is this your friend?" Jen asked.

"Yes, this is Silver," said Shadow.

"Pleased to meet you," said Silver.

For a moment, she looked a bit confused, but then smiled and said, "I think I know what this means; riddle time!"

"You are correct," said Shadow, handing her the paper."

As she began to read it, Silver said, "I am glad to see that you are so eager to help us."

"Oh yeah, I love riddles. They make me feel like I can be smart even though I'm falling so far behind in my studies," said Jen.

"I wondered how you were able to order a martini," said Shadow. "Exactly how old are you?"

She blushed and said, "22, I want to be a composer or an orchestra player, but I need a college degree to do that. My tutor is really patient with me, but I feel like I just can't do it."

Shadow smiled. "I might be able to help you out with that. One of my friends is very intelligent, especially for someone his age. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you."

"No!" she said, immediately. "My tutor took me in when my parents died, I can't just leave him to learn from someone else!"

"Don't worry," advised Shadow. "I'm sure your tutor will understand that different people might need different teachers."

She paused for a moment. "I... I don't know. I just feel like I'd be abandoning him after all he's done for me."

"Okay," said Shadow. "Just think it over. You don't have to stay like this for the rest of your life."

She nodded, and there was silence between them. "Would thinking over the riddle help at all?" asked Silver.

"Oh" she said, her head perking up. "Right, sorry, that's what you were here for in the first place."

She began reading the riddle, pacing back and forth with the paper in one hand and her case in another. After a minute, she stepped onto the grass, and Shadow motioned to Silver that they should do the same. She sat down on the grass and placed her case in front of her. As soon as she did, she began to giggle.

"What is it?" asked Shadow.

"It's... No, no, I want you to figure it out."

They looked slightly puzzled. "I believe that is why we came to you," said Silver.

"Just think," said Jen.

"My voice is tender, my waist is slender; I'm often invited to play.

Yet wherever I go, I must take my bow or else I have nothing to say."

They began to think. "I give up," said Shadow.

"Oh, come on!" said Jen. "Think, a bow. What do you know of is associated with a bow?"

"A girl?" asked Silver.

"Think a little harder than that," said Jen.

"Jen, please," said Shadow.

She rolled her eyes and pulled her case towards her. Clicking open two latches, she opened the case. Inside, was a well-polished violin.

Shadow slapped his forehead. "Of course!" he said.

Silver looked confused. "I still do not understand."

Jen reached in and pulled out the small stick with horsehair attached to it. "This thing is called a bow. It's what makes the violin make its sound."

"Oh, now I see," said Silver. "And there's its slender waist. Very clever, I am impressed."

She smiled, closed the case, and re-did the latches. "Thanks," she said. Standing up, she said, "I'd better be getting home, too. Bye, Shadow! Nice to meet you, Silver."

They bade her farewell, then stated off back towards the club. "Does she seem alright to you?" asked Shadow.

"Yes," said Silver. "I can detect no malice within her heart.

Shadow nodded, glad to hear this as they reached the streets. Now, with their combined forces, things would get interesting.

**Merry Christmas again, everyone! I hope you have a great rest of your winter break, and a not-so-sucky second semester. Until next time.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey, Internet. Wow, I am really sorry. I can't believe it's been a whole week since I've updated. Seriously, I had no idea what I was going to do with this chapter until, like, three days ago. Oh well, Christmas is distracting. If you can forgive my laziness, enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 4: The New Strand

Shortly after explaining the riddle to Rouge and Blaze, the others had been gathered to explain the situation regarding Silver and Blaze. They had been gathered on the dance floor of Club Rouge while Silver and Blaze stayed in the basement.

"So what's this all about, Shadow?" asked Knuckles.

"C'mon, man, I need to get back to running! I still have 156 miles to go," said Sonic impatiently.

"Trust me, honey," said Rouge. "This just might be enough to make even you slow down and stop."

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see it try! Come on, let's hear it!" said Sonic, his grin returning.

Shadow considered this for a moment. Maybe they should just let them out now. It could be enough to shut Sonic up for 10 seconds. He looked at Rouge who shook her head. Groaning slightly, he stood up from his chair and adressed them. "Listen, everyone, we have something to show you; something that is likely to change the course of this case as we know it. However, it is going to be very hard for you to believe it."

"Believe it? Like Naruto?" asked Sonic.

**Frigging 4th wall!**

"We need for you to be calm when we give you the explanation, but here it is. Blaze, Silver, you can come out now."

The two of them came out from the basement and walked towards the group. Blaze looked calm, but slightly nervous. When they had discussed it, she wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of revealing themselves to more than a few people. Silver looked fairly confident, and even a bit proud to show himself. He had hastily agreed to the meeting saying that any friend of Shadow's was a friend of his.

The others had mixed expressions. Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic seemed confused as to why they were so important. Amy looked back and forth between Silver and Sonic as if trying to tell them apart. Espio seemed less confused and more patient as if waiting for Shadow's explanation. Vector appeared to not know what to think. Charmy, who had been reinstated to the group, looked like a child waiting to open his presents on Christmas morning.

"Everyone," said Shadow. "This is Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat. They are..." he trailed off, not knowing how to put it.

"We are from the future," finished Silver.

Sonic stifled a laugh whereas the others looked concerned for Silver and Shadow's sanity. "Um, Shadow, are you feeling alright?" asked Knuckles.

"I don't know, why don't you ask Rouge?"

Rouge looked at Knuckles and winked. "Yep, definitely from the future. And I'd say he could beat you halfway across town."

Knuckles stood up, glowering at the blow to his honor. "We'll see about that!" He raised his fists in a fighting stance. "Go ahead! Take your best shot," he said to Silver.

Silver turned to Shadow. "I do not understand, is your friend a masochist?"

Knuckles' eyes burned with fury. "You might want to duck," said Shadow. A split second later, Shadow's advice was put to good use as Silver ducked under one of Knuckles' punches.

"Why is he attacking me?" asked Silver. "Do Rouge's words have this kind of effect on him?"

Knuckles then lowered his fist, realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've been trying to train myself not to let words affect me, but it looks like I still have a ways to go. Rouge thinks she's just messing with me, but she's actually helping me."

"Yeah," said Rouge. "I just hope you don't get under control any time soon; you're just too much fun."

With that, Knuckles sat back down. "So how do we know Silver the Cockatoo, here, really is from the future?" asked Sonic.

"Quite simply," said Shadow. He turned to Silver, but realized that he looked extremely confused.

"What is a cockatoo?" Silver asked.

"Silver, your Emerald," said Shadow.

"Oh yes, I am sorry," said Silver, and he took out his green Chaos Emerald.

"So he has a Chaos Emerald," said Sonic. "How does that prove he came from the-"

He was interrupted by Shadow reaching within his quills and pulling out the identical green Chaos Emerald. The others stared with intense curiosity. "Cool!" Charmy blurted out.

For a while, that was the only thing that was said. It seemed that the entire room was already affected by some uncast Chaos Control. Shadow only wished that they would stop gawking and say something. Finally, Sonic did. "Wait a minute, what if that's just a fake one like the one Tails made for the ARK?"

In response, Shadow teleported behind Sonic and said, "Because both of them give off the exact same energy. Silver, show him what I mean."

Silver teleported in front of Sonic and placed his Emerald in Sonic's hand. Then, Shadow placed his own in Sonic's hand. "Tell me if you feel any differences between the two," said Shadow.

Sonic was apparently struggling to do so. Shadow was more adept at using and identifying Chaos Energy than Sonic because Sonic was never truly focusing on it. He seemed to simply have the Chaos abilities naturally. Everything always did seem to come so naturally to the blue hedgehog.

"I give up," said Sonic. "It's like holding the exact same thing in both hands. How am I supposed to tell the difference?"

"Actually, in this case, you're not supposed to see any differences," said Shadow.

"Let me see it," said Tails. The fox had a good analytical mind that would be useful in this kind of a situation. Also, his skepticism would play to their advantage. They handed him the Emeralds which he held for a few seconds. "This is so weird. Normally, you'd think it's like a blade of grass where no two of them are exactly alike, but this is uncanny. Knuckles, you've had a lot of experience with the Emeralds' power, why don't you try it?"

He handed the Emeralds to Knuckles who closed his eyes to focus on them. "Now that's weird. When I touched the fake Emerald, I could tell that something was off about it, but these two give off the exact same Energy."

As he tried to return the Emeralds to their respective owners, he said, "Wait, which Emerald belongs to Shadow again?"

"I can't see how it would matter," said Shadow, taking one of them. "If they're the same Emerald, what difference does it make?"

Silver took the other Emerald and said, "I know that you may not be able to tell whether or not I am the killer, but I have put my trust in Shadow. I can only hope that over time I may be able to earn your trust in return."

"First of all," said Shadow. "I want us all to be on the same page. Can we accept that Silver and Blaze are from the future or not?"

The others looked uneasy. Shadow couldn't blame them, though. To take that kind of a leap of faith would be very risky. However, one person did finally accept it. Unfortunately, it was someone that Shadow had hoped very much not to be the one to speak up first. "Why not? It sounds so cool!" said Charmy. Shadow's eyelids immediately drooped.

"Can I get a response from someone other than Charmy?" asked Shadow.

Rouge giggled, but Charmy began buzzing. "Hey! What's so wrong with me, huh?"

As he was about to fly at Shadow, Espio grabbed him by the back of his jacket. "He means you're too young to be a credible example," said Espio.

"Oh, save it, Espio," said Vector. "We all know why he said it."

Charmy began buzzing and flailing furiously. "Oh yeah? You're all just a bunch of big meanies! Why do you always have to pick on me? Tails is just a little older than me, and you never pick on him!"

"Because unlike him, you're a little knucklehead!" said Vector.

Shadow's patience had worn out with them. He was about to signal to Omega to dismiss them when Tails stood up. "Stop saying things like that to him!" he said. Immediately, the mayhem on the Chaotix's side of the room ceased. "I might not think that it would be very reasonable, but I believe Shadow 100%. He's never let us down before, so you should stop picking on Charmy and get behind Shadow."

Shadow and the others were stunned to hear this. Normally, Shadow would have thought that Tails would have waited until Sonic had accepted it. Perhaps he was thinking more independently now.

"Well, I trust both Shadow and Tails," said Knuckles. "I spent nearly all of my life sitting in front of the Master Emerald, and I know what its Energy feels like. Those two Emeralds are exactly the same, so the only real explanation is that it's from a different time."

Silver nodded his thanks, then turned to the Chaotix. "Well," said Espio. "I'm not one to believe something just because others do, but I can't see anything wrong with it in this case." Vector and Charmy nodded.

Then, everyone turned their attention to Amy. "Um," she said, staring at her lap. "I don't know. I'd like to hear Sonic's answer, first."

The attention then shifted to Sonic. "Well, if he is from the future, then why is he here?"

Like a well-oiled machine, the attention was directed towards Silver. "Of course," he said. "Well, our world has been utterly demolished. Blaze's parents and the two of us-"

"Our parents," corrected Blaze. "You are part of our family now."

"Very well, our parents and we are the only living people on the Earth. Everyone and everything else has been destroyed. You see, a long time ago, a great hero turned insane and destroyed everything. I do not know who this hero is because I never saw him. I only know that in the end, he killed himself and left behind a world of destruction. We had to search for a very long time before finding two Chaos Emeralds. The one that I am holding now was already very close to us, but the other took weeks to find. We had to scavenge for food and clean water. Now we are back here, hoping to change the course of history to create a better future."

"Wait," said Knuckles. "If the world you left was destroyed, wouldn't you already have intervened and... failed?"

"No," said Silver. "Time travel doesn't work that way. You see, time exists somewhat like a strand of string. Long-term time travel creates a break in that strand with the original strand intact and a new strand that begins where the travelers

first land. The new strand is similar to the original at first, but is then changed by the actions of the travelers. Right now, we are in a new strand that Blaze and I created using the Chaos Emeralds. If we succeed, this new strand will have a better future. If we fail, the future will still be desolate, but something will have changed."

"Either way, we need to work together to catch this killer and bring him to justice," said Shadow. "Were you in control of how long ago you traveled?"

"No," said Silver. "We created a portal which simply took us back here. I am sure that the Chaos Emeralds had aided us by bringing us back to when it began."

"Then it's settled," said Shadow. "We work together to catch the killer and give Silver's world a new future."

If only he knew what would befall him in the process.

**Yeesh, even welding on that stupid 4th wall couldn't keep it there? Oh well, at least it stays on during the serious scenes. Happy New Year, everybody!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, Internet. Well, we're back to the old update routine and back to the action. This chapter is pretty special because the first part is describing a song. I guess you could call it a songfic, but there are no lyrics to it. If you want to know what it is, it's called Reflections of Earth by Gavin Greenaway. It's about ten minutes long, so if you don't have that kind of patience, just read the description. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 5: Farewell Symphony

Shadow took his seat in the large auditorium. He was surrounded by hundreds of people who had come to see the orchestra performance. Looking down towards the stage, the players were beginning to take their seats.

When they had previously discussed, the group had decided to spread out throughout the city because of the wide range that a violin could cover. Shadow was attending a performance by the Station Square Symphony Orchestra. Rouge, Amy, Espio, Vector, and Knuckles would be attending various performances in the theater district. Sonic had decided not to attend anything due to his inability to sit still for five seconds. Tails was watching over a string quartet who had travelled from Spagonia to play at the Royal Atlantic Hotel.

Right now, there was little to do but wait. Shadow sat in the second row on the right side, closest to the violins. He tugged at the black tie around his neck, disliking its chokehold. His entire outfit was uncomfortable; a white button-down shirt and black jacket with black pants and, of course, black shoes. It was all very tight and constrictive. Normally, Shadow wouldn't be very deterred by this, but he knew that, at some point, he would have to move quickly. This formal attire would impede such movements and it was far too expensive for him to tear off.

He reached down to his side and fingered at the Desert Eagle in its holster. It was simple enough to borrow the Will Enforcer long enough for Shadow to make security overlook it. Soon enough, an usher walked by and gave him a program. Of course, he did not open it. The contents of the performance were of no interest to him.

A few minutes later, the lights on the audience dimmed slightly and the audience began to clap. The first violins resounded throughout the auditorium as the orchestra began tuning. When they had finished, the conductor walked to his post. He was a tall bald human man in a long coat and black pants wearing glasses. When he reached his post, he picked up his baton and tapped the podium five times. He raised the baton high above his head and pointed it at the percussion section.

Shadow heard bass drums in the back make a single pulse. After a second or two, another pulse was made. Then one after another, the pulses became faster and faster, the beat accelerating. Finally, at the peak of the drums' speed, the strings section made a sliding note, much like the note was falling out of the sky. Then a brief silence came which was interrupted by the conductor throwing his hands forward in a harsh manner.

The sudden burst from the orchestra made Shadow jump slightly. Immediately following the blast, the strings began a fast-paced melody that was difficult to make out. A few seconds later, a new blast came followed by more from the strings. When that had finished, three consecutive blasts sounded preceding a running paced melody that reminded Shadow of the chaos of a battlefield. There was an instant's pause before another blast followed by several smaller bursts. The only thing that Shadow could compare the music to was a great battle. No, it was not a battle, but chaos that was as mesmerizing as a battle. The orchestra began a valiant and beautiful melody that then turned into utter chaos until the music ceased entirely.

The next movement of the piece was very peaceful and serene, almost as if order had been restored. As the section of the song moved onward, more instruments added themselves, almost as if building or creating something. Shadow then understood, the chaos before reflected the chaos of the world before order came to the Earth as he had read about in certain mythological accounts of the world's creation. It moved into a more tribal pattern that turned into a musical collection of many different cultures. This was probably to represent the transition from a primal lifestyle to the distinctive cultures of today.

Next, the piece began a section that reminded Shadow of running through an open field. The one word attributable to this section was adventure. Everything about it reminded him of new discoveries, stepping boldly into the unknown, and making a difference. Soon, he was greeted with a fanfare of celebration. The celebration turned into a slow triumphant melody of victory that culminated in a repetition of the celebration theme and a finish.

Shadow and the other members of the audience applauded. The piece had been long, but very entertaining along the way. Nothing had gone wrong in the violin section yet, but he was still watching. The conductor introduced himself and welcomed the audience. Shadow decided to take this time to look over the program for any clues as to when the killer would strike. The finale caught his eye: The Farewell Symphony- Franz Joseph Haydn. That seemed to be most likely time for a death.

He turned to an usher on his right and asked about the piece. "The Farewell Symphony?" asked the usher. "Certainly, it was written by Haydn in 1772 during his time with a Hungarian Prince as his patron. The prince had brought Haydn and his orchestra to his summer palace to play for him. Sadly, he would not let the men go home even after his initial deal had expired. Haydn knew that the only way to change the prince's mind was through music, so he composed a symphony. At the end of the symphony, all of the orchestra members would get up and leave one-by-one until only two violins remained. He hoped to communicate to the prince that it was time to let the men go home, and it worked wonders."

Shadow thanked him and returned his attention to the stage. It was perfect; two violins left at the end. The only thing to decide now was what to do at that time. How could he make sure that they would be safe? When the music began again, he hardly realized it. Maybe the will enforcer could help him. He pulled it from the inside of his jacket and looked at the small radio-like object. The device could not enforce a command upon the targets if it put them in danger. Concentrating his thoughts towards the violin section, he thought, 'remain seated until the Farewell Symphony is over.'

The screen on the Will Enforcer blinked green and began to vibrate softly. This was a sign that the command had been accepted and was being directed to the violinists. This surprised Shadow. He had expected the command to be rejected because the killer would kill them where they sat. Next, he gave the command, 'play the performance as you normally would.' Again, the screen blinked green and the device vibrated. Shadow's eyes widened. So the killer would not strike during the performance, then when?

Next, he thought, 'spend the evening after the performance as you normally would.' To Shadow's astonishment, the device blinked green and vibrated. These weren't the targets at all! He stood up and exited his row. It took every ounce of restraint that Shadow had to walk calmly up the aisle towards the exit door. He exited the auditorium and then the lobby into the streets. Taking out his walkie-talkie, he said, "Tails, any activity?"

"Not really," came the answer. "There was a minor flood on the first floor, so we moved up to the 36th."

"Alright, stay alert."

"Will do," said Tails, and static filled the walkie-talkie. A nagging feeling hit Shadow. Something about what Tails had said unnerved him. The 36th floor; why was that so troubling to him? He took out the Will Enforcer and gave a command to himself: 'stand next to the violin players on the 36th floor of the Royal Atlantic Hotel.' The device blinked red three times. He had it. The area around where the violins were playing was a danger zone. Just as he was about to call Tails, his cell phone rang for the first time in almost a week.

"Hello, Shadow," greeted the killer's masked voice. "It's been far too long, how have you been?" Shadow didn't answer. It wasn't a question worth answering. "Well, I was just in the neighborhood when I noticed that you seemed to figure out where the victims are. Did you need directions to the hotel, or can you get there yourself?"

Shadow froze. The killer was here? Had Shadow not noticed him? He began looking frantically up and down the street. "Looking for me, Shadow? Maybe you should look a bit more upward."

He turned his attention to the rooftops, and there he was: the silhouette that he had seen on the night of the boat killing. It gave him a small wave, then turned and ran. Shadow was after him quickly. He pulled out his Emerald used a Chaos Control to get onto the roof where he saw the silhouette darting from rooftop-to-rooftop. Hoping to cut him off, Shadow then teleported to the rooftop in front of the killer. Realizing his appearance, the killer turned left, but Shadow cut him off again with a Chaos Control. Trying to turn around, the killer was blocked off by yet another teleport.

"End of the line," said Shadow.

The killer chuckled in his processed voice. "But I'm having so much fun." He then pulled out a red Chaos Emerald, but its glow was suppressed by the killer's hands so that Shadow still could not see him. "Why would I end the line now?" asked the voice from behind Shadow. Shadow was knocked off of his feet by a blow to his back. When he stood up, the silhouette was standing right in front of him. The killer had put away his Chaos Emerald and was, instead, holding a small dark rectangle.

"It's too bad you couldn't have figured it out sooner, Shadow. It looks like your winning streak's over. Now I have 37 and 36." He appeared to press a button on the rectangle and Shadow heard a distant explosion. Now he realized it; the rectangle was a detonator. The reason the 36th floor had troubled him was because that was one of the next numbers.

"Is it starting to come to you?" asked the killer. "I set up an explosive on the 37th floor to make part of the ceiling collapse onto the violin players along with a pair of crushing metal weights that I had hidden in the ceiling. Bodies 37 and 36 have been terminated. Good night, Shadow."

Before Shadow could attack him, he saw a green mist rising from the ground in front of him. Looking down, he saw a container broken open with green fumes pouring out of it. Suddenly, his eyes became heavy, and he began to drift away. The last thing he remembered was falling, then blackness.

**Well, there you go. I start school again tomorrow, but hopefully, that won't affect updates. Later.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Welcome back, Internet (or miniature fraction of the Internet that actually reads my stuff). I'm glad to say that we're back up to speed on the updates. You just keep reading, and I'll keep making fun of you- I mean, writing. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 6: Wounds

Darkness, blackness, an endless abyss surrounded him. Was this a dream? What had happened to him? He had to think, try to remember. The orchestra; he had left it because he knew it wasn't what he was looking for. He had walked down the street, and then...

A deafening ringing filled the air; louder than anything he had ever heard before. He cringed in pain, and still, it continued. It continued on and on until he thought his ears were going to split. Then, it stopped.

_Countdown begins now..._

A voice drifted through his head. Something about that voice made his blood boil.

_Rule #1..._

Rules; what rules existed in that things mind? The mind of a killer is twisted and corrupted.

_It's only a game..._

A game, why does he treat this like a game? Was this all a game? Is killing people so familiar a concept to him?

_You can't win, Shadow. I couldn't beat you before, but now, you're mine..._

No... Not yours... No... NO!

Shadow sat bolt upright. He panted as cold sweat dripped down his face. "He's awake," someone said. He felt someone grab his arm and say, "Shadow, are you alright?"

He didn't answer, but continued panting. What sort of nightmare was that? It couldn't have been a nightmare, it was real! But if that was a dream, then what was this? Everything was so blurry and distorted. He felt tender hands lightly lower his head back onto the bed. "It's alright, you're in the hospital," said the voice. "Shadow, can you hear me?"

Finally, the world seemed to come back to order. He was lying back on a hospital bed with Rouge standing over him. "Rouge," he said in a scratched voice.

"It's alright," she said. "Here, drink this." He felt a straw pressed against his lips. Slowly, he drank and felt cool water running down his throat. For an Ultimate Life Form, he was surprisingly parched. When the straw was taken away from his mouth, he heard Rouge say, "Is he alright, doctor?"

"Apart from his recent awakening, he appears to be completely stable," replied a baritone voice. Shadow sat up slightly. Rouge was talking to a tall human man in blue scrubs. "I must say, I'm astonished that we can't find anything in his body that could have knocked him out. No hallucinogens, no toxins, nothing. He certainly didn't receive a blow to the head, but there's no proof of any chemicals that could have caused him to pass out."

"It was some kind of gas," said Shadow. "I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but based on what I just saw, I'd say it was some sort of hallucinogen. I kept hearing his voice. It was like he was standing right next to me, but I couldn't see him."

The doctor considered this for a moment. "Well, we couldn't find anything in your lungs, or your bloodstream. In fact, your breathing and heart rate were completely normal until just before you woke up."

"That's what I was created to do," said Shadow.

"Yes," replied the doctor, "being the Ultimate Life Form, your body is able to dispose of foreign compounds fairly quickly. But that begs the question, why did it still affect you just before you woke up? My guess is that these previous events have put an immense amount of strain on your mind. It could be that whatever you absorbed aggravated your brain even further until it began to have somewhat of a breakdown."

Shadow nodded. "Is he going to be alright?" asked Rouge.

"My guess is that, despite his lack of necessity for sleep, a periodic rest would be good for his mind. Even some meditation or relaxing exercises could help."

"Thanks, doctor, but I don't think that I have time for sleep nowadays," replied Shadow.

Rouge gave him a concerned look. "Shadow, I know you like to focus on the mission, but-"

"Wait," said Shadow, cutting her off as a new idea dawned on him. "What happened to Tails? He was in the same room as the victims."

"He's in a room a few doors down," explained Rouge, understanding his concern. "When the ceiling collapsed on the violinists, he was standing close by and was able to knock one of them out of the way of one of the weights. The bad news is..."

"The weight hit him instead," finished Shadow.

Rouge nodded. "He's still unconscious. It crushed a few of his ribs, but some of the security guards were able to lift it off of him. The other violinist is already dead, and we don't know what's going to happen to Tails. They say he might be able to pull through, but they can't say for sure right now."

Shadow put his face in his palms. He had lost this round. One of the victims had survived, but he might claim another in his place. "May I visit him?" asked Shadow.

"For a few minutes," replied the doctor. "But you need to come back here to get some rest."

Shadow thanked him then got up from the bed. Rouge coming with him, he went into the hall to find Omega standing there. "Shadow," greeted Omega in a tone that would be relieved if he had emotion. "My previous concerns have been alleviated. I am glad to see that you have made a recovery."

"Thanks, Omega," said Shadow. "We're going to visit Tails now." Rouge led them down the hallway to a room temporarily labeled, 'Miles 'Tails' Prower.'

Leaving the massive Omega outside, Shadow and Rouge walked in. They saw Tails lying with his eyes closed on a hospital bed. Sonic was sitting right next to him with Knuckles standing nearby. Amy and Cream were sitting in chairs across from the bed while Vector stood near the doorway.

"Shadow," called Vector. "Good to see you're alright."

Cream turned to face him. "Mr. Shadow, shouldn't you be back in bed? You were unconscious the last time I saw you."

"I'm fine," he replied. "But this isn't my room, so let's worry about Tails right now."

They all looked at the unconscious fox lying on the bed. The electrocardiograph on the side of his bed made periodic beeping noises that told them Tails was still alive. His torso was wrapped in bandages, and he had a breathing mask and IV.

"Tails," said Sonic, absentmindedly.

Knuckles put a hand on his shoulder. "He's still breathing, Sonic. He's not done yet."

"He's so... vulnerable." Tears began welling in Sonic's eyes. "Why did it have to be you?"

"He was very brave, Sonic," said Shadow. "Whatever happens, you should be proud of him."

"I always have been," said Sonic. He took Tails' hand. "Don't worry, buddy. We'll get you through this."

Shadow walked to the other side of the bed and took Tails' other hand. "We won't leave you. You've proven yourself to be more courageous than any of us would have dreamed."

He looked back up at Sonic, but saw that he was glaring at him through the tears in his eyes. "Don't touch him," said Sonic.

"I can't repay him enough for what he did, Sonic. I'm staying with him until-"

"No!" blurted Sonic. "You think you can just take his hand like some sort of long-lost brother? Since when did you start caring about him? I've been his best friend for so long, and you think you can just walk right up to him and act like you're his friend? Just get out you... Faker!"

Shadow's eyes widened in shock. He had heard that name only once before. Not only did it denounce his identity, but it reminded him of his foolish quest for revenge. He had no need to be reminded of the hate and regret that he had felt at that time.

As Sonic broke into quiet sobs, Shadow released Tails' hand, turned, and said, "As you wish, blue hedgehog."

Before anyone could stop him, we walked out of the room and silently returned to his own. Along the way, Omega had turned his head towards Shadow, but said nothing. He went back into his own room and laid face-up on the bed, staring at the ceiling. A moment later, a voice came through the door that he did not expect. "Shadow, are you okay?" asked Amy.

He turned his head in interest. "Is there something wrong?" he asked in a why-aren't-you-swooning-over-Sonic? tone

She timidly walked toward the bed. "I-I'm sure Sonic didn't mean what he said. He was just mad about Tails being hurt, that's all."

"And he took it out on me." He returned his gaze to the ceiling. "Fate seems to like to use me as its punching bag."

"No," said Amy. "I know what happened to Maria was bad, but you still have friends."

"I suppose," he replied. "Friends can patch emotional wounds, but there are always scars."

Amy didn't respond. "Do you have any scars, Ms. Rose?" She was startled by this question. Perhaps she had never been asked it before. "Has your life simply been a journey to have Sonic? Is not having him yet your only regret?"

Again, she didn't respond. "Then allow me to ask you a question. What will you do once you finally marry him?" She looked up at him in shock. "You know that you can't be with him every minute. He's a drifter. Have you ever looked beyond your wedding day?"

"I..." she trailed off. For a long time, there was silence.

"He is not perfect, Amy; no one is. I know that what he said was not thought through, but that does not excuse him entirely. Right now, we both need to cool off. If you'd please excuse me, I need to rest."

She did not move for a very long time. She simply stared at the floor with her hands folded in front of her. When Shadow was about to restate his request, she turned and walked out of the room. After the sound of the door closing, he could hear footsteps along with light sobs.

He laid his head back down on the pillow. He didn't quite regret what he said, but he didn't intend to make her cry. Regardless, he had merely challenged her beliefs. It was up to her to decide what it was that she believed.

Sonic would also probably have an apology ready. Shadow didn't find himself in a position to not accept it after calling him 'blue hedgehog.' He sighed and closed his eyes. What everyone needed was a good deal of rest. If nothing else, it would give them time to think about what everyone else had said. Slowly, he drifted away into sleep, ready for a moment's reprieve.

**Well, that's it for this chapter. To address the whole 'Faker' issue, the name was only used once, and by Sonic. I just get confused when people have Shadow call Sonic 'Faker' in their fics when he never called Sonic that. Maybe I'm just nitpicking. Heaven knows I can't help but nitpick. Anyway, see you guys next time.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Okay guys, I'm going to skip the apologies and just let you know this: I am very busy. I have two musicals that I am rehearsing for, rehearsals being almost every day, two sports that I am playing, and a dramatic reading competition coming up. All of that on top of homework and this story being a very low priority leaves me with very little time to work on it. I will update whenever I can, but I must ask that you be patient with me. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 7: Revelations

_Welcome back, Shadow..._

The voice echoed through Shadow's mind. He knew who it was and what it meant.

"Who are you?" he asked the void.

_You asked me that once before. Why read any further into it? You already know._

"What are you talking about?"

_Haven't you already figured out that I always talk in riddles?_

"Then shut up!" snapped Shadow.

The voice chuckled.

_No, Shadow. I'm not going away until the game is done. Until then, I intend to have my way with you and your mind._

The ringing filled his ears again. It made him writhe and groan in pain. "Shadow! Shadow!"

He snapped up with a small scream. Cold sweat was pouring down his face.

"Shadow, are you alright?" asked a concerned voice.

He turned to face Rouge. She was dabbing his forehead with a cloth. Suddenly, a bright light shined in his right eye then into his left. He winced slightly from the incredibly sudden light change. "Pupil response is normal. Shadow, can you hear me?"

He nodded slightly. He felt a sudden twinge of Deja vu at waking up in this manner.

"Look at me, Shadow," said the doctor. Shadow turned to face him. "What is my name?"

"Y-You never told me," said Shadow, weakly. His vision was turning in and out of focus.

"Good," said the doctor. "That's right, I never told you. I'm glad you remember. Can you tell me where we are?" he asked, putting an IV into Shadow's wrist.

"We're in the hospital. Rouge is right beside me. Tails and the others are in a room a few doors down." He winced at the sting in his wrist.

"That's right," said the doctor in a calming voice. "Now that I know you're mentally stable, I'll tell you that my name is Dr. Ashton. Rouge told me that you were tossing around and groaning in your sleep. Did you have another nightmare?"

"Yes," replied Shadow. "It was a lot like the last one."

"Can you describe them to me as best as you can?"

He strained to remember something, anything. "I just remember hearing a voice in my head, then a loud ringing noise."

"What kind of a ringing? Is it long and high, or chirping, or wavy?"

"It's like a chirping. Almost like a..."

"A phone?" finished the doctor. Shadow nodded. Dr. Ashton nodded back. "It could be that you hear the killer's voice in your sleep along with your own phone ringing. Can you remember what he says to you?"

Shadow shook his head. "Everything he says is always so cryptic."

"That gas could have had a greater affect on you than we thought. We should probably take you in for a CAT scan. Wait here while I get things ready."

He turned, picked up his clipboard, and left. As soon as he did, Shadow turned to Rouge. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"I am now," he replied. "How long has it been since I fell asleep?"

She looked at the clock on the wall. "An hour if you count the time before Amy came out crying." He looked down feeling slightly remorseful. "I couldn't even make out what she was saying. What did you say to her?" she asked in a slightly convicting tone.

"I did only what she did for me," he replied. "I challenged her beliefs and gave her something to think about. This time, though, the world isn't at risk."

"She's bawling in the waiting room right now, Shadow. I think you gave her more than she could handle."

Shadow didn't respond. He thought of the single tear that he let slip in front of Amy on the ARK. Perhaps he had given her more than she had given him. A few minutes later, the door opened. The one who stepped in was most unexpected.

"Shadow!" cried Silver. "I felt like there was something wrong with you. What happened?"

"Nice to see you, Future Boy," greeted Rouge.

"I saw the killer, but he knocked me out with some kind of gas. Whenever I fall asleep now, I have strange night terrors about him," answered Shadow.

"Where are the others? Should they not be here with you?" asked Silver.

"They're in another room," said Rouge. "The killer tried to use metal weights to kill the victims, and one of our friends got in the way. We don't know if he's going to survive."

"I am sorry to hear that," replied Silver. "May I visit him?"

"He is Sonic's best friend. And Sonic is very sensitive about him at this time, to say the least," replied Shadow.

"I understand. If anything happened to Blaze, I know that I would like to be left alone with her." Shadow nodded. Maybe he had reacted to Sonic in the wrong way. "Has the new riddle been given?" asked Silver.

As if in answer, Officer Sells walked in the door, taking his hat off to reveal a thinning hairline. "Shadow, what happened to you, son? I got a report that your friend is in the hospital, but I thought you'd be visiting him, not checked in!" He noticed Silver next to the bed as well. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm-" Silver began.

"Another friend," finished Shadow. He wanted to keep Silver's origins to a very small group as much as possible. "I had an encounter with the killer, but he used some sort of gas to knock me out. From that point on, I've been having nightmares every time I fall asleep."

"Hm, I think I've heard of something like that. Right after Eggman went missing, the army found some notes in a hidden base of his that talked about some sort of nightmare-inducing hallucinogen. It might have something to do with that."

"That's what we're thinking," said Rouge. "Our theory is that it's Metal Sonic taking Eggman's orders to do the killings."

Sells considered this for a moment. "Metal Sonic, eh? Well, I always thought Eggman was more into the bigger empire kind of stuff."

"We never said our theory was perfect," said Shadow. "We do know that the Doctor's mind was never entirely stable. Something up there might have snapped."

"Well, I don't know if his head's clear or not, but I'm not so sure he's behind this."

An hour or so later, Dr. Ashton came back into the room and looked at the new visitors. "We have the CAT scan ready, Shadow. Do you feel well enough to walk down there?"

"As long as I don't fall asleep," said Shadow, getting up, "I think I'll be fine."

A few minutes later, they had Shadow lying on a bench with a white sheet over him, ready to enter the hoop-like machine. The room was a whitish color with several boxes for gloves and other medical instruments. His gloves and shoes had been removed, but he kept on his inhibitor rings to avoid overloading the machine. Even though the sheet covered his face, he knew that, through a window, sat two doctors staring at computer screens. "Are you ready, Shadow?" asked one.

"If I weren't, I wouldn't be lying down on this table, now would I?" he replied.

With that, he heard the machine begin to hum as he felt the bench begin moving through the machine before stopping. Trying to keep as still as possible, he waited among many beeps, clicks, and ringings. Thankfully, none of the noises caused him any mental trauma. It took a longer time than Shadow would have expected for the machine to merely scan his head. When the procedure was finally over, he felt himself being carted out of the scanner. "Alright, Shadow, you can take the sheet off now," said a nurse who had entered the room. He did so and stood up. The nurse handed him his gloves and shoes which he put on, following the nurse through the door.

"It'll take a few hours for the results to get in, but it should tell us if anything's wrong with your brain," said Dr. Ashton, leading him back to his room.

"Fine," said Shadow. "And if it's something wrong with another part of my body?"

Ashton shook his head. "Dreams originate from your brain being in a resting state. If we don't see anything here, we might give you a sedative and repeat the scan with you asleep."

"If that happens, let's hope I don't get a nightmare while being scanned."

"Well, it's really all about finding out what's wrong with you." At that point, they had reached his room. Shadow sat down on the bed. "Do you want to talk to anyone?"

"Yes," said Shadow. "Could you bring in Officer Sells for me?"

Ashton nodded and left the room. A few minutes later, Sells came through the door. "Close the door," directed Shadow. Sells did so and came to stand by Shadow's bed.

"Dr. Ashton said you wanted to talk to me?"

"The objective is in sight, but recent events have made it impossible to achieve." Shadow waited for his response. He was taking a risk, but if he was right, it could mean something very important.

Sells smiled and replied, "I am glad that you caught my meaning in the earlier conversation."

"So the Doctor is in trouble," said Shadow.

"I am not allowed to speak of his current predicament, but yes," replied Sells.

"You are a follower, then?"

"An android," corrected Sells. He lifted his shirt and opened a small door near his heart that contained several wires and blinking lights.

"His technology has improved," remarked Shadow.

Closing the door and lowering his shirt, Sells said, "My name is Superior Eggman Last-resort Lethal Spy or S.E.L.L.S."

"The doctor is in as much trouble that you are programmed to be his last resort?"

"As I said, I am not permitted to discuss the Doctor's current circumstances. At any rate, I have been sent here to assist you in carrying out the objective that he gave to you before disappearing. Do you remember what it was?"

"As I said, the objective is in sight, but not achievable because of the killings. Is my current theory correct?"

"Even if I knew, I would not be allowed to discuss it."

"Tell the Doctor that the current events have pushed us beyond the luxuries of secrecy and distrust. If this killer succeeds, then it could mean the end of me. He knows what that means."

Sells nodded. "I shall relay the message back to him."

"Good. Bring Rouge and Silver back in. If they ask, we were discussing to what extent the police could be of use in this case."

Sells nodded and left the room. So the Doctor was in trouble. Was this what Ivo had foreseen? More importantly, was one of his creations crossing a line that had never been crossed before?

**Alright then, you have more questions. Give me some time and I'll give you the answers. Until next time.**


	26. Chapter 26

**I'm back, Internet! Well, I found something the other day that I thought was really cool. For Christmas, I received the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes. I began flipping through the two gigantic books when one of the titles caught my eye. It turns out that the first in **_**The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes **_**is called **_**Silver Blaze**_**. Looks to me like the guys that named those characters may have been fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, huh? Well, enough pointless trivia. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 8: Fixing the Wounds

Shadow, Rouge, and Silver stood around Sells who had just taken out the latest riddle.

_"I am the black child of a bright father, a wingless bird, flying even to the clouds of heaven. I give birth to tears of mourning in the pupils that meet me, though there is no cause for grief. At the instance of my birth, I am dissolved into air."_

"Incredible," commented Rouge. "None of that makes any sense at all."

No one contradicted her. This was definitely the most abstract of the killer's riddles. "Jen taught me that, when solving a riddle, nothing is what you would think it is," said Shadow.

"I am afraid that does not help much here, Shadow," said Silver.

Shadow looked at Sells. Now that he knew that Sells was an android, he doubted that he would be of much use here because of a robot's inability to use anything but logic. As he had suspected, Sells looked pensive, but added nothing to the discussion. He wondered why the Doctor found it necessary to send a spy to aid him in his objective. Had it joined the police force to make the others trust him? Had the Doctor known that this situation would involve the police? Which begged the question, was the Doctor behind it all and simply trying to trick Shadow? Perhaps it would be best to make the Doctor believe that he was fooled, but secretly be prepared for a betrayal.

"Any ideas, Shadow?" asked Sells.

"Nothing," replied Shadow. "And you?"

To Shadow's surprise, he did have an idea. "Well, weren't you created by Professor Gerald Robotnik?" Shadow nodded. "And your fur color is black."

"Ah," said Shadow. "Clever, officer."

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Silver.

"To have created me, Professor Gerald must have been very bright," hinted Shadow.

"Yeah, but you can't fly, honey," commented Rouge.

"True," said Sells. Silver still looked very lost, but decided to drop it.

Shadow was all the more intrigued. How could an android have figured that out? Perhaps he had underestimated a robot's ability to think outside the box.

At that moment, the door opened, and Amy appeared in the doorway, her arms folded in a nervous fashion.

"Ah, good to see you again, Amy," said Silver. "I-"

"Silver, I think it would be best if the two of us talked alone," said Shadow.

Silver looked confused. "I'm sorry, do you prefer to speak with others alone every time? I don't seem to be getting a word in edgewise."

"Less talk, more leave," said Rouge, pushing him out. When Sells followed them out, Shadow and Amy were completely alone. Neither of them said a word for a while. Shadow was uncertain as to whether he should be the first one to speak. His original assumption was that Amy would start shouting at him with tears in her eyes for saying the things that he said. But no, she simply stood there, staring at the floor, completely silent.

On top of that, what would be the right thing to say? Should he apologize for what he said? He certainly didn't regret attempting to bring Amy into reality, but he had been fairly blunt. Perhaps he should simply ask her what she was thinking. He certainly wasn't going to find out anything by simply staring at her.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked.

She didn't answer right away. For a moment, Shadow doubted that she had heard him, until she replied, "No."

Her eyes began to slowly lift from the ground towards Shadow. "How can I be angry with you? You- You were the first person to really speak your mind about me."

"I don't understand," said Shadow.

"Everybody else always tried to sugar-coat it. They'd tell me, 'You should probably stop chasing Sonic around all the time,' or, 'I'm not so sure you're really thinking this through.' I'd just blow them off and do whatever I wanted to. All this time, I never knew that I was doing absolutely nothing. All I've ever done is get kidnapped or go on some adventure to find Sonic. I never helped to save the day or do anything that would really help Sonic. Most of the time, I just stood there and watched. You're the first person to ever tell me that it was just childish." Tears began forming in her eyes. "And you're right."

Shadow didn't respond. What was he supposed to say to that? He was expecting some sort of gushing tear-fest with barely intelligible words about how he was wrong, but she was saying the exact opposite. Maybe he should try to cheer her up. "You convinced me to save this planet on the ARK."

"Don't try to make me feel better. I just triggered a memory of yours in the middle of a desperate childish pep talk. Besides, I didn't really know what I was saying."

Now Shadow was completely at a loss for words. Not only did she not want to be cheered up, but his limited experience with her left him with no other examples of maturity nor bravery. Except...

"What about leading your team to help us defeat Metal Sonic?"

"Shadow, I only got Big and Cream because I thought they'd help me find Sonic. We were just there, and I wanted to impress Sonic."

"Does that mean that it wasn't even remotely courageous of you to face a giant robotic monster?"

"Maybe it would have been better if I didn't have a dozen friends, including Sonic, helping me."

"And Sonic also had a good deal of friends helping him by buying him time. You don't have to do things alone, Amy."

"Oh, what does that matter?" she asked, half-shouting. "All this time, I've just been trying to make my life into a fairy tale. I just thought that, if I was persistent enough, Sonic would just get down on his knee, then we'd get married and live happily ever after. My whole life's just been a joke," she said, choking on her tears.

There was a long pause, broken only by Amy's sobs. "Alright," said Shadow. "Now that you've said what you haven't done, what are you going _to _do?"

She looked up at him, her mouth slightly open. "Are you going to let what you haven't done ruin your life? That's a fairly early age to be giving up, if you ask me. But if that's what you want, there are several implements in this room that you can kill yourself with. After all, if your life has just been a joke, what's the point of continuing?" She looked down, her eyes closed. "There's a perfectly good needle in my wrist," he said, removing his IV. He held it out to her. "Here, you can do whatever you want with it." She continued to look down and didn't respond. "Your life isn't a joke, Amy," he said, returning the needle to his wrist. Just learn from what you've done and keep moving. Maria told me that a long time ago when the Professor had told me, in his frustration, that I was a failure. He corrected himself after cooling off, but I had a bit of an existential crisis in the meantime."

"But why did you take what he said so seriously?" she asked, finally speaking.

He shrugged. "What the Professor told me was the only truth I knew. If he said it, that was good enough for me. What I'm trying to say is that you should keep what I said in mind, but don't let it become canon for your life."

After a while, she smiled. "Thanks, Shadow. I... I think I'm going back into Tails' room, and maybe I'll talk to Sonic."

Shadow nodded. As she turned around to leave, he said, "See if he'll come in here. I want to talk to him." With a smile and a nod, she left the room. Seconds later, Rouge, Silver, and Sells were back as well. Rouge looked absolutely stunned.

"How..?" she began. "Is that girl suffering from mood swings?"

"What was that?" asked Shadow. "We should stop worrying about the temporary emotional status of a 12 year-old girl and focus on the clue left by the murdering psychopath? Splendid suggestion, Rouge."

Rouge rolled her eyes, Sells chuckled a bit, and Silver looked extremely confused. "But she didn't say any of that," said Silver.

After a brief explanation, they were finally back on track. "I think we should just find your friend," said Rouge. "She always has the answers, and we never do."

"I agree with Rouge," said Silver. "I quite enjoyed her company, and find this racking of our brains to be counterintuitive."

Shadow gave a pensive, "Hm."

"What, you don't think so?" asked Rouge.

"I know that Jen is extremely helpful, but I feel like we shouldn't become dependent on her to solve the riddles. If something comes up where we can't find her, what will we do then?" asked Shadow.

"We don't exactly have time for that right now, Shadow," said Rouge. "If we don't get the answer soon, we might not be able to stop the next killings."

Before Shadow could concur, the door opened, and Sonic stood in the doorway. "Hello, Sonic," said Silver. "I-"

"It's just him and Shadow again, Silver," explained Rouge, pushing him out the door.

"When will it be my turn to have a private conversation with Shadow?" Silver asked as Sells closed the door behind them.

For a while, the two remaining hedgehogs simply stared at each other; not out of contempt nor fascination, but because they did not know what to say. "I-" they both said simultaneously.

Sonic gave Shadow a signal to continue. "To be perfectly honest with you, Sonic, I don't like you," said Shadow. "I think that you are reckless, cocky, and insufferable. However, that does not give me the right to adress you in the demeaning and malcontented way that I addressed you earlier, and I apologize."

Sonic nodded. "I don't like you, either. I think you're condescending, stubborn, and just a downer. But I still shouldn't have called you a Faker. I know you're not fake, and I think that you are a pretty great guy."

"You also are very respectable and brave. Even if you do look like me, you aren't a fake either. I think that this isn't the time for a petty rivalry to keep us from working together."

"Yeah, it does seem like a waste of good energy," said Sonic, his normal upbeat attitude returning.

The two clasped hands and gave each other soft smiles. After they gave each other a single nod, Shadow pulled the IV from his arm, and the two hedgehogs walked towards the door. As they walked out into the hallway, they heard a firm, "Hold it." Shadow turned around to see Dr. Allen standing there, his face grim, holding a manilla envelope. "Your CAT results are in."


	27. Chapter 27

**Salutations, Internet. Well guys, no excuses. This delay was just me being lazy and unmotivated. I know, I'm a loser, but I just couldn't get myself to start writing. Anyway, if you'd be so kind as to forgive me for this, I'd be very appreciative. Enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 9: Deceptive Peace

Shadow sat alone in the office with Dr. Allen. Despite Shadow's insistence that he be joined at least by Rouge, Dr. Allen had found it necessary to speak with him alone. The doctor was sitting at his fairly large desk while Shadow sat in a chair in front of it. The office itself was fairly plain; the aforementioned desk with a picture of the doctor's family, a few health-related posters on the walls, and a computer. The manila envelope containing the results of the scan sat in front of Allen.

"Before I show you the results, you're probably wondering why I brought you in here alone," said Dr. Allen.

"It was on my mind, yes," replied Shadow.

"It's because there doesn't appear to be a single thing wrong with your brain," he said, opening the envelope and placing a black and white picture of what appeared to be a portion of Shadow's brain on the desk.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Why should I be the only one to know that?"

"Because it's far too clean," replied Dr. Allen. Shadow stared at him, waiting for some sort of punchline. "If your brain had gone through a nightmare of that caliber, there would still be a sign of tension shortly afterward. Here, it looks like you just got back from vacation in Adabat."

"Maybe I had time to calm down between the nightmare and then," said Shadow.

"Even so, something doesn't add up here," said Dr. Allen. "It's possible that, since you're the Ultimate Life Form, the gas left your body at a quicker rate, and you felt its effects all at once. Regardless, I only want you to share this information with the people that you trust the most. Something tells me that there's something else going on here."

Shadow nodded. It did make sense to keep his state of being a secret, especially considering that the killer was likely closer to him than most people realized. Rouge's rifle in the office was proof enough of that.

"If you want," began Dr. Allen, "you could tell everyone that you're fine, then tell your close friends what the deal is."

Shadow thought of Sells. He would be able to logically deduce that there should be something wrong with him. "No," he said. "They'd be smart enough to figure out that something is up."

Dr. Allen nodded. "Alright, in that case, I can make you a fake graph that shows what your brain, theoretically, should look like."

"That would be best," said Shadow.

Within minutes, Dr. Allen had printed him a new graph that was strikingly similar to the original. "This is supposed to show trauma?" asked Shadow.

"Our brains are very complex things, said Dr. Allen. "Even the smallest change can make an enormous difference."

There was a short pause. "Was that all you needed me for?" asked Shadow.

Dr. Allen nodded. "You can leave the hospital if you wish, but I'll give you my phone number in case anything goes wrong. Another nightmare, a sudden pain in your head, anything that could possibly be traced back to your brain should be reported to me as soon as it happens. And don't think that you can simply tough something like this out. Your brain is one of the most fragile parts of your entire body. If anything at all happens, call me."

Shadow nodded as Dr. Allen began writing on a small piece of paper. Despite his outward approval, Shadow loathed the idea of calling in any time something happened. Was he even supposed to report in a little headache? He inwardly scoffed at the idea. The Ultimate Life Form wouldn't go crying to a doctor just because of a bad dream. Reluctantly accepting the slip of paper, Shadow thanked Dr. Allen and left the room.

As he returned to his room, a thought occurred to him. Who could he trust at this point? Silver could still be some vengeful future denizen, Omega could still be bugged, Rouge could even be considered a suspect because of her rifle being in the office. No, she was his friend. In fact, Omega was his friend too, bugged or not. Still, if Silver really was trying to help, he should know, too. How to find out if he was genuine?

When he reached his hallway, everyone was waiting outside of Tails' room, looking anxious. "What's going on?" asked Shadow.

"They're operating on him," said Sonic. "If they can fix his ribs, they say he has a better chance of pulling through."

Shadow understood now. "But if anything goes wrong..." He decided not to finish his sentence. Sonic gave him a grave nod.

Not a word was spoken. Even Shadow had forgotten about the CAT results. Silver clenched his fists. "I feel so useless. It is as if I am simply taking up space here. Is there nothing that I can do?"

Shadow's head perked up. "Actually, Silver, there is something you can do."

Silver jumped. "Anything, what do you need?"

"You said you wanted to see Jen again. Why don't we pay her a visit?"

"Yes!" said Silver. "When shall we leave?"

Shadow turned to Sonic. "When is the operation supposed to be over?"

"They said it would be a few hours."

"Perfect," said Shadow. "Silver, let's go."

The two of them left the hospital in a flash. Thankfully, due to past experience, they knew exactly where to look. The hospital was fairly far from the park, but they reached it within a few minutes. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, and the sun shone brightly. However, it was a wintery sun that barely brought any warmth. Because of this, the park was fairly sparse. This made it much easier to find Jen as she was the only one sitting under a tree reading through sheet music.

"Hey Shadow. Hey Silver. How are you guys?" she asked.

"We are well, but our friend is badly hurt," said Silver.

"Oh no, what happened?" she asked.

Silver was about to answer, but Shadow cut across him. "I'm sorry, but we really can't answer that. No one is really free of suspicion."

Silver appeared to have caught the meaning, and his ears drooped a bit. Whether he was the killer or not, he certainly didn't enjoy being under suspicion.

"Well, alright," said Jen, a bit disappointedly. "The usual riddle help, then?"

"Yes, please," said Silver.

Jen giggled. "Alright, let's hear it."

Shadow and Silver looked at each other expectantly. After a few seconds, they made an embarrassing realization. "We don't have the riddle," they said simultaneously.

There was an awkward pause. "Would you like me to fetch it?" asked Shadow, struggling to maintain his composure.

"No, no... I'll get it," said Silver, blushing slightly. He took out his Chaos Emerald and warped away in a green flash.

Shadow stood in complete silence. Jen tried to make the situation less inept by hiding her face behind her sheet music as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, a sharp pain rose to Shadow's head. He winced, and Jen saw it. "Are you okay?" she asked.

The pain disappeared as soon as it had come. "Yes I am," said Shadow in a matter-of-fact tone. She looked a bit suspicious, but didn't press him to continue. Shadow straightened up. It was just a little headache. He had gotten those before and come out just fine. He tried to distract himself with something, anything to pass the time of Silver being gone.

He looked up at a flock of birds migrating South. How lucky they were to just be flying by without a care in the world. A second later, he found himself proven wrong. A bird much larger than the others was trailing their formation from behind. But despite the larger bird's presence, the others did not notice. Shadow was confused. How did those birds not hear or see that other one? He would have thought that the larger bird's flapping would have given it away. Soon enough, though, the bird of prey was upon them. It attacked one of the birds at the back, and the entire group dispersed. Shadow gave a soft, "Hmph." It was their own fault. That is the price for being unaware.

Soon enough, Silver was back. "Sorry about that," said Silver, handing her the paper.

"No problem," said Jen. She hadn't been reading the riddle for more than five seconds before she started giggling.

"What is it?" asked Shadow.

"You really couldn't figure this one out?" asked Jen.

"If we could have, we would not have come to you," said Silver.

"Should we be prepared to smack ourselves on the head?" asked Shadow.

"Well..." began Jen. Shadow raised his hand to eye level, ready to strike himself for his stupidity.

"What do you know of that is black, goes upward, and eventually disappears?" asked Jen. A few seconds passed. Once they were up, Shadow's gloved hand met his forehead with enough force to knock over a fully-grown human. Silver's head drooped, and he began shaking his head in disgrace.

"Smoke," they said simultaneously. Jen gave a nervous smile and nodded.

Shadow lowered his hand. "I have no idea on Mobius how we missed that, but I'm glad we have the answer," he said through clenched teeth.

"First we forget to bring the riddle, now this. Shall we never mention this meeting to anyone ever again?" asked Silver.

"We shall," said Shadow. The two waved their goodbyes to Jen, and walked off.

Before they reached the edge of the park, though, Silver said, "Shadow, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" asked Shadow, ready to talk about anything except for what just happened.

"It's about Jen."

Shadow paused. "What about her?" he asked.

"Do you remember when I first met her, and I told you that I didn't find anything wrong with her?" Shadow nodded. "Well, when I met her again, she seemed a little... too perfect. The way that she did everything so perfectly, it sort of... set me off."

Shadow was reminded of his CAT results. If both seemed too good to be true, could the two be... connected? He didn't shake this thought off. Jen was still a suspect, if not a prime suspect.

"We'll keep our eyes on her," Shadow assured him. "And in the meantime-"

"Blaze!" Silver suddenly called out. Shadow looked around for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. "I can sense it, she is in danger! Shadow, you have to help me!"

"Slow down, Silver," said Shadow. "Try to focus. Can you sense where she is?"

Silver took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His gloves glew a bright green as he concentrated. A second later, his eyes snapped open. "The cafe!" he said.

They turned to run in the direction of the cafe, but froze for an instant. With what they had just seen, they knew that running would be too slow. In a split second, they had whipped out their Emeralds and vanished. A thick cloud of smoke was rising above Salazar Street.

**Well, thanks for waiting around just for more mediocre writing. Later.**


	28. Chapter 28

**I'm alive, Internet! Well, I would have had this up soooooooooooooo long ago, but I inexplicably couldn't open up my story for a long time to post this, so this time, it's not entirely my fault. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you about this earlier, but I was completely unable to do anything. Anyway, please don't think that I've lost interest in this. I love being able to put up stuff like this, but I have about a million other things to do as well. Hearing back from you guys really helps me keep going because it tells me that you guys enjoy it just as much as I do. Great to be back, enjoy.**

Act II: Corner

Chapter 10: Inferno

Smoke billowed out of the building. Fire licked through the windows. A few bodies littered the ground, some so badly burned that they were unrecognizable. A gaping hole was formed at the front of the two-story building. Shadow and Silver stood at the foot of the building, tears forming in the latter's eyes. "Blaze," he said distantly.

"It was probably an explosion," said Shadow, surveying the rubble. "Can you sense if she's still alive?" Silver said nothing, but continued to stare fixedly at the flames. "Silver!"

"I don't know," said Silver, transfixedly.

"Can you sense if she's still in danger?"

"I... I..."

Without waiting for the reply, Shadow bounded into the burning building. Smoke came in a cloud out of the hole in the front that Shadow entered. As the smoke began to surround him, he took one last gulp of fresh air.

As soon as the cloud swallowed him, things got bad. He wasn't able to use his alien eyes because the smoke stung them and made them water. He dared not breathe to risk intaking the smoke. The black billows swirled around him. Were his eyes not so full of tears, he might have been able to see a clear area. Weighing his options, he decided to simply stop and listen. If someone were still alive, there would probably be some screaming or coughing.

Sure enough, over the crackling of the flames, he heard a small coughing noise to his left. Instantly, he began racing toward it. Within seconds, through his watering eyes, he saw that the smoke had cleared. After wiping his eyes, and breathing again, he looked for the source of the noise.

It was coming from an overturned table in front of him. After lifting it, he saw a small human girl, brown hair and matching eyes, no older than five years. He bent down to look at her. She had been burned in several areas, and she was constantly whimpering and coughing. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"D-Daddy," she said between coughs. Deciding to get her out of harm's way, he picked her up, and began carrying her towards the exit. He felt as though he should say something to her. Try to comfort her in some way, but what could he say to her? When they had reached the window, he prepared to use a Chaos Spear to create further ventilation for the smoke. Then he stopped to think that doing so might cripple the already weak structural integrity of the building and bring it down on top of any potential survivors. Instead, he told the girl to hold her breath and dove into the smoke cloud. Thankfully, he knew where he was going this time and could escape more easily.

When he did break free, he saw that two fire trucks and ambulances had pulled up, and a brigade of firemen was working to keep the building up. "We've got a live one!" Shadow shouted to them.

"I'll take her," said a bearded human fire fighter. Shadow passed the girl into the much larger man's arms, who carried her toward an ambulance.

Looking around, Shadow saw that two fire hoses had been set up and were currently spraying the building down. A black chameleon fireman was shaking Silver, trying to snap him out of his trance. Thankfully, it worked. The fireman was trying to get Silver out of the way, but Shadow deterred him from doing so, and took Silver toward the burning building.

"Is she still in danger?" asked Shadow.

"Yes," said Silver. "She's still alive, but I don't know where she is."

"Let's just focus on getting as many people out of here as we can," said Shadow. The two of them ran into the building with a few fireman bringing up their rear.

Again, the smoke cloud began choking Shadow's senses. Thinking that Silver was experiencing the same, he found his arm, and dragged him to a higher visibility area. "This smoke is a problem," said Shadow. "If we could clear it up from the source, this would be a lot easier."

"Let's edge along the walls and see what we can find," said Silver.

Finding this a suitable plan, the two began edging along the walls. Since the blast probably came from the kitchen, they would probably find the source of the fire there which could help clear out the smoke. Even if it wasn't there, it was probably where Blaze was. Eventually, they reached the back wall, and, sure enough, there was smoke billowing from a huge hole which led to the kitchen.

"We don't want to weaken the building any more by making that hole any bigger," said Shadow.

"Can't we just use a Chaos Control to get everybody out of here?" asked Silver.

"Chaos Control time-stops are interrupted if the user touches any previously moving object under the Control, smoke particles and people included."

"Then what do you propose we do?" asked Silver.

"We need to cut off the smoke at the source. If we can find that fire, we might be able to put a Chaos Control forcefield around it to snuff it out."

The two took out their Emeralds. "Let us hope this works," said Silver. Using their Emeralds as lights, they dove into the smoke.

It seemed like hours. The smoke that Shadow had felt before was like a gentle breeze compared to this. He could feel his own fur singing as the relentless burning waves consumed him. With every step he took, the heat grew more and more powerful. Unable to breathe, unable to think, he simply ran further into the blackness.

_Shadow..._

His head began to throb. Suddenly, every part of him seemed to be screaming out in agony. Had he not felt Silver's arm brush against his own, he would have been completely lost. Soon enough, he found himself looking at a massive fire. The dancing flames seemed to be mocking his attempts to fight through the intense heat. Both he and Silver raised their Emeralds which began to glow brightly.

"Imprison!" he and Silver shouted. A green sort of crystalline sphere began forming around the flames. They danced more furiously now, seemingly indignant at their containment. The sphere continued to take its shape, meanwhile the fire thrashed and jerked with even more vigor. Finally, the sphere was complete. Within seconds, the one-roaring fire was reduced to nothingness as it consumed all of the oxygen within the forcefield. By feeding itself, it killed itself, but only because that was its nature. Shadow found it strange that something could be so destructive yet so self-destructive at the same time.

With a loud pop, the main fire was out. The sphere dissolved, and all that was left was the lingering smoke. "Blaze!" called Silver. There was no response. "Blaze!" he repeated.

Shadow looked around. As the smoke began to clear, he saw that the kitchen was in ruins. The explosion had left black streaks on the floor, not to mention the large crater in the space where the fire had been. Large pieces of metal were strewn everywhere from the appliances and such.

"Try to focus," said Shadow. "If we can sense another source of energy, we might be able to find her."

"But how do I do that?" asked Silver, urgently.

"Just relax. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and try to sense the energy around you." Silver did as he was told, and Shadow did so as well.

Even Shadow had to admit that it was difficult. The smoke particles still had a good deal of heat energy, and the firemen in the resteraunt were also distracting. He had to focus. Killer or not, he didn't want to see Blaze die, nor Silver be crushed. Silver had said that she could not use Chaos energy, so he couldn't track her that way. "I found her!" said Silver. Shadow was amazed. Even he couldn't find her in all of the commotion. Perhaps he was more familiar with her signature.

Following Silver to a corner of the room, they soon saw a large pile of rubble. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say she's in there," said Shadow. Silver gave a nod. "Well, I'll leave this to our resident psychokinetic." Taking his cue without a word, Silver's eyes and hands began glowing. Soon, the pile began to glow the same light green and levitate. Silver spread his hands and fingers, and the different pieces began to separate.

Shadow and Silver looked through the scattered floating debris. A moment later, they saw a tinge of purple, slightly discolored by the psychokinetic aura. Immediately, Silver dropped the other objects which fell to the floor with several extremely loud noises. Unfortunately, this caused Silver's concentration to slip slightly, and Blaze fell to the floor as well.

Silver rushed to her side, and lifted her head. "Blaze! Can you hear me?" She didn't respond. She was covered with cuts and bruises, but surprisingly, no burns. Maybe her pyrokinetics protected her from that.

"Blaze!" Silver shouted. Her head continued to sit quietly.

"She may need oxygen," said Shadow. "We need to get her out of here."

Silver picked her up with both arms and began to carry her towards the exit. The smoke wasn't as much of a problem, the largest fire being out, but it was still difficult to breathe. They passed through the resteraunt one final time, then finally came out.

"Someone help!" called Silver. They spotted the ambulances parked in the middle of the road. There were already several long tables with people that the firemen had rescued being cared for. Shadow and Silver immediately ran towards them with Blaze.

"Another unconscious one," shouted a paramedic. Before they even reached the table, Blaze had been taken from them by two paramedics.

"Please hurry," said Silver, desperately.

One of the medics put her ear to Blaze's heart. "She's still alive," she announced. "But she needs oxygen. I need a mask over here!" A fellow paramedic rushed up to them with an oxygen mask with a long black tube attatched to it. The medic put it around Blaze's head. Silver was frenetic. All he could do was wait.

Soon, her chest began to rise and fall. Her eyes opened. She coughed and tried to get the mask off her head. A paramedic comforted her, and she stopped struggling. "Blaze," Silver breathed. His legs nearly gave way in relief.

A fireman offered them oxygen masks of their own. "With all that smoke, you're going to need them." Shadow held the mask up to his face and breathed in the fresh clean air. Blaze was going to be alright.

**Well, I really can't promise you anything other than I'm working as hard as I can on this. Until next time, hasta la bye-bye.**


	29. Chapter 29

***flashback to three weeks ago*******

**Me: Oh boy, I can't believe I'm already half- way done with this chapter. I really want to show my readers that I want to keep doing this so that they can trust me better. Also, it'll be just before a big work load comes up so that I can explain to them why there'll be yet another delay before it happens. Now if I could just open up that file…**

**Computer Screen: This file has not been closed properly and has been corrupted.**

**Me: ….fffffffffffffffffUUUUUUUUUUU-**

***end flashback*******

**Okay, so maybe I didn't say that, but you get the idea. Anyway, as you can see by looking down a few centimeters, we're on the third and final act of this story. The chapters will be a good deal longer from here on out (quite frankly, it's the length that I should have been writing every chapter with, but I digress), and there are only a handful left. Soon, faithful audience, we will uncover the true identity of the killer. Enjoy.**

Act III: Silence

Chapter 1: Le Début de la Fin

"I assure you, I am quite alright."

"That may be, but you can't leave the bed until the doctor says you can."

"Then go get the doctor. He would most likely tell you that I can leave."

"He is busy at the moment. Please stay in your bed."

"There is no reason for me to stay in my bed. Please allow me to move around."

"If you don't stay put, I will be forced to take more forceful measures to make sure that you do not leave."

"I'm sorry, but any attempt of yours to force me to do anything isn't going to work out."

"There are several other people in this hospital that are more prepared for that than me. Some even have Chaos abilities."

"I still don't think that they will be able to force me to do anything. Just let me get up and I'll be fine."

Shadow had to stop himself from laughing out loud. Blaze and a nurse were engaged in by far the most polite argument and exchange of threats he had ever heard. Some threats, however, he had to admit were probably exaggerated. The staff that the nurse claimed had control over Chaos were more likely people who had abnormal reactions to Chaos energy. They were probably controlled by it rather than controllers of it. Blaze, on the other hand, was unable to defeat Rouge: a non-Chaos user, but a skilled fighter nonetheless. Still, Shadow would have thought it unwise to try to control a pyrokinetic, seeing as most are extremely resistant to control and can be angered easily.

Silver stood by Blaze's bedside, not daring to get in on the argument, polite or not. Shadow thought him wise considering some of the times that he had attempted to intervene in a fight between women. Even he, the Ultimate Life Form, became an indecisive liability when it came to the emotional affairs of women.

The two continued their banter for a few more minutes. Eventually, Blaze thought it more beneficial to simply wait out the doctor's absence and simply sat with her arms folded. The nurse left, telling Blaze to call if she needed anything to which Blaze imitated the nurse's mouth moving with her hand. Shadow gave a short chuckle and turned to Silver. "Are you sure you can handle her?" he asked.

"Heheh, no," replied Silver with a sheepish grin. "But that is alright because she knows that staying here is for her own good. Right, Blaze?"

Blaze rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Shadow smiled and turned to leave. He noticed that Blaze was far more familiar with the manner of speech of this time. Perhaps being face-to-face with so many people every day was enough to make her learn. He imagined her speaking in that more formal way to her customers and receiving more than a few funny looks.

Shadow stepped out into the hallway. His next stop would be Tails' room to check on the condition of the operation. He hadn't heard anything about it since his return to settle Blaze in. They had said it was approximately another hour if all went well, but they could never be sure. It had been 45 minutes since that time, so he knew that, in theory, it should be soon. He entered the elevator and pressed the number of the floor of Tails' operating room. In time, he began thinking of the next victims. He had no idea how many had been killed in the explosion, and there was no riddle that he could find in the building. What was he supposed to do? Maybe the killer could answer some of his questions in his next call.

The elevator reached the designated floor with a ding, and the metal door slowly slid open. He saw that everyone he knew was standing at the end of the hall, including Sells. They were all looking apprehensive, especially Sonic. His face was slightly paler than when Shadow had last seen it. Surprisingly, Amy was right next to him. She wasn't swooning over him, but comforting him. In fact, was he seeing things, or was she holding his hand?

_Shadow..._

It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He knew what physical pain felt like, but this was so much more than that. His head began throbbing madly, and he staggered. His heart was beating rapidly, each beat collided with his eardrums like a bomb. A cold sweat began pouring down his face as he struggled to stay on his feet. Red streaks began to cloud his vision and he could hardly see. All that he could do was lean up against the wall and take shallow breaths. What could he do? Every part of him was screaming out in agony. He tried screaming out to his friends, but the words were lost in his throat.

His balance was completely thrown off. The hallway seemed to be tilted at an angle. He needed something, anything to ease the pain. Straining to look up, he saw that he was leaning against the wall right by the men's restroom. Anything, anything to stop the pain. His heart sped up even further, increasing the agonizing pounding in his ears. Desperate for anything, he reached forward and pushed open the door to the restroom. In doing so, he overbalanced due to his dizziness and nausea and fell over. Hitting the tile floor was enough to coat any other untouched part of his body in a tidal wave of pain.

He heard a voice calling after him, probably Rouge's. As he painfully pushed himself up with weak arms, he felt the floor trembling slightly with Omega's footsteps. The metallic clanking on top of everything else was maddening.

He stumbled several times, but eventually reached the sink. It was slanting back and forth in his reddened vision. With difficulty, his hands found the faucet handles and turned the cold water on. A flow of icy water came from the faucet and made a deafening crash against the side of the sink. The nausea became overwhelming, and an uncomfortable sensation was rising from his stomach to his throat. He began splashing the cold water onto his face which didn't help much considering he was already in a cold sweat. His skin felt clammy and he shook all over.

"Shadow, are you alright?"

He looked into the mirror toward the door. For a split second, he saw a blonde girl with blue eyes. Next second, it was Rouge, standing at the door with a look of terrified concern on her face. "I'm fine," he lied.

"No, you're not. I've never seen you like this before. Are you... sick?"

"No," he said with as much force as he could in his weak state. "I'm the Ultimate Life Form. I don't get..." He didn't have time to finish his sentence. The sensation had arisen from his throat into his mouth, and for the first time in his life, he vomited. It was an uncomfortable first encounter to say the least.

"Whoah," exclaimed Rouge as she rushed to his side. "Easy Shadow, take deep breaths." Even with Rouge supporting him, he found this impossible. His heart was still beating madly, and his red eyes were watering after his disgorgement. "You're shaking all over. You need help, Shadow."

"No," Shadow protested weakly. "The Professor... didn't create me... to need help."

"I don't care," said Rouge, supporting him to walk towards the door with Omega standing right outside it, unable to fit through the small frame. "Your eyes are so bloodshot, they're almost completely red. I can tell you, you need help."

Shadow was about to protest even further when he vomited again, thankfully missing Rouge. Suddenly, medical assistance didn't sound so absurd. Either Shadow was trembling very violently, or Rouge was starting to shake under his weight. He tried to ease the burden, but his legs felt too weak, even to stand. Finally, the trek was over, and Omega's large metallic hands lifted Shadow from Rouge's shoulder. He was able to lie down, but the cold metal of Omega's hands was awful in his state.

"His body temperature is far below homeostasis," said Omega. "Request immediate medical support."

"I'll go," said Rouge. "You stay here. Make sure he's alright."

"Affirmative," replied Omega.

As Rouge ran down the hallway to get help, Shadow could hear many more voices and footsteps coming from the other end of the hall. It was deafening to Shadow. He groaned and clasped his hands to his ears. There was too much noise. The voices, the footsteps, his heart, that voice that was now ringing in his ear.

_Shadow... Shadow... SHADOW!_

He began screaming out in pain as the voice in his head grew louder. And that horrible ringing sound. Why wouldn't it stop?

"Silence!" shouted Omega. The voices and footsteps stopped. Now, the only sound Shadow heard was the ringing. It was his phone. Raising a weak arm, he took it from his pocket and opened it. The voice that had become the bane of his existence rang through the speaker.

"Hello, Shadow. Bad time?"

"What do you want?" he replied.

"Well, that never matters to me, does it? Now let me get to the point." Shadow was confused. Had he heard him wrong?

"I said, what do you want?"

"I left this recording to play for you so that I could get the message to you despite not being in an appropriate position." Shadow huffed. Had it been the killer calling then, he could have ruled out everyone in the room.

"If you wish to know, that explosion killed tweny-five people. That leaves you with ten left in case you don't remember correctly." Shadow growled in anger. He wanted to crush something; even a part of himself to get his frustrations of failing again out.

"I am giving you this call to give you the riddle. I couldn't risk having a piece of paper burn up in the building, so you don't even have to look for this one. Quite generous of me, no?" Under normal circumstances, he would have made a biting retort, but in his state, all he could do was pant and wait for the recording to continue. "Here it is:

_My host thinks me an irritation, a bother, a pain. _

_But he can't evict me so I stay, remain. _

_Then one day I'm taken and ranked among my peers._

_Can you guess what I am? Then you might call me dear._

Also, you'll need to know 46th street."

The phone was snatched out of Shadow's hand. Omega began speaking into it. "Hearken to me, you soulless monstrosity. Your actions are not only an affront to society and lives, but are internally destroying my friend. You will surely pay for this. The very first second I see you, I will fill you with so many bullets that your carcass shall be used as a paperweight."

The only sound that anyone could hear was the dial tone. "It was a recording, Omega. Even if... it were him, he would have... hung up anyway. One of his... rules is that he... only talks to me."

Omega began trembling with robotic fury. Everyone else had backed away several feet after his outburst. "His rules are inane drivel," he remarked. "Soon he will be playing by my rules."

Shadow wretched again. This time, there was a mixture of a red substance in it. "Blood," said Sells. "Not good."

He felt as though he was about to die. Everything in the world seemed horrid to him. The voices, the robotic hands supporting him, the riddles, even his own body made him want to simply end everything. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't do anything. Anything he might have said was now lost in his throat. The sweat was getting into his reddening eyes and stung them even more. He heard it again: the ringing. This time, it wasn't his phone. The ringing was coming from inside his own head. Unable to scream, he could only squeeze his eyes shut and clutch his burning ears.

Above the ringing, he heard a voice calling from the other end of the hallway. A few seconds later, he felt himself being lowered from the cold metal hands onto a much softer surface. Next thing he knew, there were shouts and commands being given from the doctors. Soon, though, the shouts were fading away. He no longer felt dizzy, and the pain that had racked his body was now turning to numbness. He didn't know what this meant, but he was glad that it had come. It wasn't worth trying to open his eyes to get back to reality. Whatever this was, it was much nicer. He felt the numbness spread all over him; then nothing.

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_Shadow..._

He awoke with a start and a sharp gasp for breath. He was alive. Shadow the Hedgehog; he was alive. He was panting slightly. His head was swimming, but the pain was gone. There was a beeping sound to his left, but he soon realized that it was an electrocardiograph. "Are you okay?" asked a voice to his right. He turned to see Rouge there. Now, he realized that he was in a hospital room, and it was full of people. Not only that, but he had an oxygen mask over his face.

"Yes," he replied. He was utterly bewildered. What had happened to him? All that he could remember was a voice and pain. Did mortals feel that whenever they were sick?

He took a look around the room. Everyone truly was there. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Silver, Blaze, Sells, the Chaotix, the only one missing was Omega, but he couldn't fit through the door. They were all smiling at him with looks of extreme relief on their faces. But wait, if they were all here...

"What happened to Tails?" he asked.

Suddenly, they looked less happy. The once-joyous looks on their faces turned somber. Shadow feared the worst. "I see," he said flatly .

"No, it's not what you think," said Sonic.

It was then that Shadow saw a familiar tinge of orange out of the corner of his eye. This time, it wasn't walking in, it was rolling in. Tails was in a wheelchair. The same childish grin was on his face. He looked at Shadow with those big blue eyes. No, no this couldn't be happening. How could it? How could he have failed even Tails?

"Hi, Shadow," called Tails.

He didn't respond. There was no way to. He only closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"The weight threw my spine off too," explained Tails. "By the time they got it fixed, it was too late. I can probably still fly since I have my tails, but I won't be walking any time soon."

Shadow began slowly shaking his head. It was his fault. He had brought this upon them. If he had only kept this to himself, none of them would have been hurt. None of them would be worrying about anything. They would simply be continuing their normal lives.

"Shadow," called Silver. "I have heard your thoughts, and I think that you are completely wrong." Everyone in the room turned to look at him. "Blaze and I came back to this time willingly because we wanted to help you. I have spoken to the Chaotix, and they tell me that they voluntarily became involved in the case. Not only that, but you have an amazing group of friends. If they so much as heard that you were in trouble, they would be right by your side in a heartbeat. You brought nothing upon us. You seem to have yourself mixed up with the killer. Well, I say to you that there is no way that anyone with a heart such as yours could kill, not even if their life depended on it. Now I suggest that you heal up so that we can get back to catching this murderer."

He had no words. All his life, he wanted to blame himself for everything. Maria's death came about because he was not decisive enough to save her. He never even wanted to dream that it was what she wanted. He had tried to destroy the world because of his own selfish desires, not because of one forgotten memory. Black Doom had come to Mobius because Shadow was there, not because he wanted the energy from the humans. No matter what happened, he always wanted to bear the burden of the world's sins and keep everyone else pure, but he could never do that. There was no way that he could bring himself to blame himself for everything wrong that happened in the world. Strangely, this came as a loss of luxury to him. The world that he had fought for and nearly died to save was not a perfect one. Bad things would happen every day. Still, Maria would have thought that that was what made it worth the risk. But at this point, he could not see the light.

"Alright," said Shadow. "I need to talk to some people alone. Rouge, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Sells, you stay in here. Everyone else, I would appreciate it if you'd leave."

With some looks of disappointment, all but the aforementioned left the room, some whispering to each other. When everyone had left, Shadow immediately turned to Sells. "I know that the Chaotix know who you are, but Rouge doesn't, so you can tell her."

Sells chuckled. "I should have known that at least one of them would have given you a clue. Alright, Ms. Rouge, I'm going to need for you to not shout or make any loud noises."

Rouge looked positively bewildered. She looked at Shadow, but he merely bade her turn back to Sells. Sells began lifting up his shirt until he reached the point of his heart. Before she could utter a word, he had opened the door that showed his robotic insides. She stifled a gasp and nearly fell back onto the bed.

"I believe that now I should introduce myself. I am the Superior Eggman Last-resort-"

"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly," interrupted Shadow. Everyone in the room turned to look at him looking confused. "I said that you should tell Rouge your real identity, my nephew."

The room was filled with silence; a silence broken only by Sells' chuckles. "Should have known that you'd figure it out."

"It was obvious enough. If you were an android, then how did you receive that wound when you saved the District Attorney's life? You earned our trust, but it was indeed a dead giveaway."

'Sells' gave another chuckle, then tapped his wristwatch several times. Slowly, his body began to change. It was like watching one person fade out, and another come in. The once- thick arms and legs became much more long and thin, as if they were made of putty and being pulled apart. The black police uniform changed to red and yellow coat over a rounding torso. His thick brown hair began to disappear, and a much thicker moustache appeared on his upper lip. To finish it all off, a pair of black pince-nez goggles covered his eyes. "Leave it to grandfather to make a truly Ultimate Life Form," remarked Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

**Ha! Ya didn't see that one coming, did ya? Well, my friends, the plot twists are just getting more and more dramatic, so we must be near the end. Until next time, dear reader, Adieu.**

**(P.S. The title of the chapter is French, and it means "The Beginning of the End")**


	30. Chapter 30

**Welcome back, Internet. Didn't expect this quick of an update, did you? Well, I had a free weekend, and I was a lot more motivated with this one. Anyway, I forgot to put this in the last chapter, but the title of the last chapter if French for 'The Beginning of the End' and the title of this chapter is German for 'When All Falls Apart.' I guess it's all to prove that the gratuitous use of other languages is cool, right? Enjoy.**

Act III:Silence

Chapter 2: Wenn Alle Zerfällt

"I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here," said Dr. Eggman.

"It crossed my mind," said Shadow with a hint of sarcasm.

"Very well," sighed the Doctor. "I suppose you've earned an explanation."

"I'll say," remarked Rouge. "And why do we have the Chaotix guys in here instead of everybody else?"

The detective trio looked a bit guilty for a moment as their faces sunk. "We... already knew," admitted Espio, his arm still within the cast.

"What?" Rouge shrieked.

"Keep it down!" said Dr. Eggman through clenched teeth. "If they walk back in, you'll get no explanation from me."

Rouge turned with a frustrated look towards the ex-missing man, but complied with folded arms.

"Much better," complimented Eggman. "Alright, my story actually starts just a few days after my latest scheme was foiled."

The dark laboratory was suddenly filled with bright lights and sparks. The tinkering of machinery and clanking of metal was soon joined by the fizzling sound of a welding torch. Its owner smiled with delight as his newest creation began to take form. Of course, this smile was hidden behind a large welding mask, but even it could not seem to hide the giddy excitement that the evil genius felt in his latest invention. As with all of his previous toys, he was confident that this one would be his greatest yet. Everything was coming together: the design, the genius, the opportunity. His robotic minions were scurrying back and forth behind him, carrying out his will without question. This was what the Doctor wanted from the world: unwavering obedience. A machine could give him that. Machines were dependable, efficient, and above all, subervient. With this newest achievement, he could spread those qualities worldwide to every man, woman, and child. Soon, all would be under his control.

"You rang?" asked a slightly annoyed voice behind him.

The Doctor turned around in his chair to see an unhappy-looking hedgehog behind him. Thankfully, it was the hedgehog that he wanted to see. "Good to see you, Shadow. How have you been?"

"Spare me your pleasantries, Doctor. What do you want?" Judging by the even more annoyed than usual look on the black hedgehog's face, Eggman knew he'd have to make this quick.

"I need a favor, dear uncle." This was to play to the side of Shadow that knew Gerald Robotnik as his father.

"I don't do favors," remarked Shadow with slight disguist. "Especially if it's you. If you want my help, I'll need something in return."

The Doctor smiled sinisterly. "I was hoping that you'd say that."

He put down his welding torch and mask and stood up from his bench. Age and his rotund form put somewhat of a strain on him to where he grunted slightly. "Follow me," he said to Shadow, then walked on without looking back. The chrome rounded corridors began to light up as he lead the one hedgehog in the world that he did not despise toward their destination. "I heard that you recently resigned from G.U.N. May I ask why?"

"It's none of your business," retorted Shadow.

"Why Shadow, we are family, you and I. Don't talk to me like we're complete strangers," cooed the Doctor.

"If there's one thing I hate in this world, it's being patronized," replied Shadow with somewhat of a bitter finality.

"Note to self," thought the Doctor, "Never try to sweet talk Shadow."

The rest of their walk through the hidden laboratory was in silence. Neither of them felt like saying anything to the other, and that suited the both of them just fine. Their footsteps echoed through the spotlessly clean corridors and created a decent beat that was pleasing to the Doctor's ears. Another thing he enjoyed about machines was their ability to remain constant and steady. True, some thought of the monotony as troublesome, and his own creations did not always function properly, but there was nothing Eggman enjoyed more than that constant pace.

There were several more minutes of walking, turning, and elevator-riding involved, but their destination was finally reached. The delightful whoosh of the automatic doors graced Robotnik's ears as they stepped inside. Within was one of his finest inventions of all time. Of course, he had said the same about everything else he had made, but what was science without progress? There, sitting in the dead center of the room was a hologram depicting a large rocky orb, not unlike the moon.

"Behold, Shadow, my latest ingenious plan!" directed the flamboyant scientist, swelling even further with pride. He produced a small remote control from his jacket, pointed it at the hologram, and pressed a small button.

The rock split down the center with light pouring from the cracks. Soon, large chunks of holographic rock began breaking away from the larger one to reveal a face. It was a perfect metallic replica of the Doctor's face complete with sinister grin and pointed nose. Then, as if zooming out of a picture, the image of Eggman's face began shrinking, and floating beneath it was the planet Earth. "I give you Space Colony ERA, the Eggman Roving Armory!" shouted the Doctor in a tone so over-dramatic, he half-expected a loud orchestral DUN DUN DUNNNN!

"Making a mockery of my birthplace and creator, how classy," remarked Shadow, sarcastically.

Dr. Eggman felt this to be such a killjoy that even his huge moustache drooped. "You insult me, Shadow." Immediately his demeanor and moustache returned to their former haughtiness. "I do this not to insult my grandfather, but to follow in his footsteps! He would be proud of me for taking such a bold step! It would make him weep tears of joy to see his own grandson-"

"Flat out copy his designs and use them to brutally take over the world?" finished Shadow, dryly. "This is not something that I will support. The Professor would not want for me to help you, nor would anyone who was on the ARK." With that, he turned on his heel and made to leave for the door.

The Doctor was about to lose his chance. He needed to present his deal now. "You haven't been able to access all of my grandfather's archives, have you?" The hedgehog stopped dead in his tracks at the doorframe. His silence alone was enough of an answer for Eggman. "Some of them require DNA verification, don't they?"

The hedgehog half-turned his head back to the grinning scientist. "And if that were true?" Eggman reached within the confines of his jacket and pulled out a small glass slide upon which rested a single gray hair. This was more than enough to get Shadow's attention as he turned around fully and looked Eggman in the eye. "I'm listening."

"This is one of my grandfather's hairs. I ran a full DNA test on it, so there is no mistaking it. With this, you can get into any parts and databases of the ARK that were previously inaccessible. All it takes is for you to get me something."

Shadow seemed to consider this for a moment. He knew the risk that came with helping the Doctor, but this time, Eggman had no intention of tricking or double-crossing Shadow. Finally, Shadow asked, "And what would that be?"

Eggman's grin widened and he pressed another button on the remote. The Space Colony and Earth disappeared, and in their place, was a large jewel. Unlike the Chaos Emeralds, this one was more rectangular and had less color to it. But it seemed to glow by itself rather than shine the light off of anything else.

"This is called a Sol Emerald," explained the Doctor. "There are seven of them, as I read in the ancient manuscripts. They are much like the Chaos Emeralds, except they give off fire power rather than Chaos Energy. It is said that they were once the source of life for some other planet or dimension or rather, but it was prophesied that they would be sent to our world. Now, in order to lift my beautiful creation into space, I will need a large power source. Naturally, my first choice was Chaos Emeralds, but it is difficult to convert Chaos Energy into fire power without there being a large number of them. If I started collecting them, Sonic would be on my tail in no time. I cannot buy large quantities of gasoline or other fuel sources, or I will be discovered, and Sonic will shut me down in a heartbeat. But with these, no one knows that they exist, and with them already producing so much fire power, I only need one. Most ingenious, no?"

Shadow looked somewhat pensive for a moment. "You are running somewhat of a risk considering you have no idea when they will arrive in our world."

"Yes, but that's part of the fun, isn't it? Besides, it's all the more reason for you to look harder for them. If you can get me just one Sol Emerald, I will give you my grandfather's DNA. Do we have a deal?" he asked, extending his hand.

Shadow saw that he had little to lose. If he found the Emerald and gave it to the Doctor, it wouldn't make much difference because it would just be trashing his robots like always. Even if he didn't find the Emerald within the Doctor's lifetime, he could easily take the DNA from him after his death. "Very well," he said, taking the Doctor's hand.

"An excellent choice, Shadow," remarked the Doctor. "You may go now." Without another word, Shadow disappeared in a flash of green light.

Feeling extremely satisfied, Eggman decided to get back to work on his invention. As he crossed the corridors once more, his footsteps were the only ones echoing down the halls. It was all going perfectly. That old hair of his grandfather's was getting to be an extreme nuisance, so trading it for the power source for his greatest war machine yet was exquisite. What to design first, though? The security system? The robot factories? The external defense systems? The-

His thoughts were broken off by a large crashing sound from above. Had those nincombots blown up another one of his beautiful creations? There was another crash. "Bah!" he shouted. "If they've so much as touched my Egg Massage Chair, they are so de-"

"INTRUDER ALERT!" shouted a loud female voice over an intercom. Red lights began flashing throughout the compound and a siren began to wail.

"What? Get me an image!" demanded the Doctor. A small screen was lowered from the ceiling in front of the fuming scientist's face. It showed a blur rushing back and forth across his laboratory destroying everything. "It's Sonic!" he shouted. He pulled an intercom radio from the side of the screen. "All units to level 14! Crush the hedgehog before he gets to the lower floors!"

At this, the blur stopped moving. He was still a silhouette, but Eggman was sure that it was Sonic. Suddenly, the shape began pounding at the floor until it created a small hole. Eggman began to sweat. He saw that his robots had begun to open fire on the shape, but it continued to rip open the hole until it was big enough to fit through. Then it jumped in. "Stop him, you useless pieces of junk!" barked Eggman. The screen switched to a camera on the next floor down where the shape continued to attack the floor. So he was coming for the Doctor, eh? "All units to the lower levels! Protect the safe room at all costs!"

He began bolting towards the nearest elevator and continued watching on a handheld screen. The shape continued to pound at the floors and rip through lower and lower. Eggman rushed inside when the doors opened and impatiently waited for them to close. Then, ignoring the regular buttons, he located a small keyhole labeled 'EMERGENCY.' Producing the appropriate key from his jacket, he impatiently shoved it in, nearly missing it, and turned it. Immediately, the exterior of the elevator became surrounded by a bulletproof metal covering. Next, the elevator began shooting downward at a speed that nearly made the Doctor sick. As the elevator plummetted faster than the speed of gravity, the shape continued to tear through the floors on the screen. Eggman would demand that the confounded contraption go faster, but if it did, he would certainly vomit.

Finally, he reached the lowest floor of the compound. He rushed out of the elevator and into the hallway at the end of which was his safe room. This was private bunker for just such an occasion as this. It was covered with several feet of cement and reinforced steel. Enormous turrets and sentry guns were stationed along the entrance, and proximity mines waited underneath the hallway waiting for any unwanted hedgehogs to step on them. Best of all, the interior was equipped with huge weapons and a laser forcefield at the door.

He raced through the door, and immediately, the forcefield activated and all of the weapons were armed. He sighed with relief and collapsed onto a nearby armchair. Now, all that there was left to do was wait. "Computer, activate security monitor and find that hedgehog."

A screen on one of the walls lit up and an image of a hallway with a large hole in the ceiling and floor appeared. The hedgehog was nowhere in sight. Quickly, the monitor began flashing images of several hallways and rooms each with the same openings in the ceilings and floors, but no hedgehogs. "Where is he?" demanded Eggman.

There was nothing but silence. The hedgehog wasn't appearing on any of the monitors. Eggman's sweat became more profuse. "Computer, activate thermal radar," he said, softly.

The monitor changed from an image of a damaged laboratory to a black image with a large red shape which was himself. The thermal camera began turning to watch the laser door which was so powerful that it, too, was glowing red. Then, it turned upwards toward the ceiling. There was nothing there but blackness. Was that it? Had he disappeared? Was he just looking to have a bit of fun? Then, the Doctor's fear became real. A red dot appeared on the image of the ceiling. It was slowly and steadily getting larger. The Doctor looked up himself. Small cracks were beginning to form in the concrete.

Panicking, he ran to the opposite wall and pressed a button on it. The wall turned around to reveal a small armory with guns, grenades, and other firearms. He took a shotgun from a rack and pointed it at the ceiling. He wasn't the best aim in the world, so a scatter shot would be his best choice. The cracks slowly grew larger and larger. Small particles began floating down like dust and settled on the floor. This was it, he would finally be able to shoot that hedgehog. Finally, a chunk of concrete collapsed from the ceiling, and out of the hole, came a gloved white hand.

"Aha!" shouted the Doctor as he fired the weapon. The blast was deafening, and the shotgun almost fell out of his arms because of the recoil. Sparks flew at the ceiling, and the hand immediately retracted. "Take that, you speedy little slime ball!" He pumped the handgrip to empty the chamber and pointed the barrel back at the ceiling. He waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. No hand, head, nor anything came through the opening. "Come out, you little blue rodent!" Still, nothing happened. Slowly gaining courage, he decided to shuffle towards the space underneath the hole, never pointing his gun away from it. When the time for the final step came, he jumped directly underneath the opening and fired with a loud "Ha!"

There was nothing there. He stepped out of the way quickly so that the pellets would not fall down on him. What was going on? Had he won? Was that all that the hedgehog needed? Cautiously, he lowered the barrel of the shotgun. "Computer, activate thermal radar." The black and red image reappeared on the screen. The camera was turning slowly around the room. Apart from Eggman and the laser forcefield, there were no red shapes to be found. He sighed with relief and lowered the shotgun. Then he spotted something on the screen that made his blood run cold. There was a small red dot on the wall directly behind him. Before he could even turn around, a hand grasped his head and hurled it at the floor.

He woke up later with his head spinning in the middle of a dark forest with a note tied to him that said, "Come out and play more often. I'm so bored."

"I haven't been able to get back into any of my bases since," explained Eggman. "I had to go to Station Square and become a police officer to make a living using my disguise mechanism." He pointed to his watch. "The Chaotix were very helpful to me, despite all of the trouble I've caused them. Hopefully, I'll be able to become a detective so that I can try to investigate one of my own bases."

Shadow and Rouge were speechless. Someone had attacked Eggman, and was likely still on the loose. "May I see the note that was tied to you?" asked Shadow.

"Certainly," replied the Doctor. He reached into his jacket and produced a small note. When he gave it to Shadow, he noticed that the writing exactly resembled that of the killer's.

"So we're both after the same man," remarked Shadow.

"Indeed," said the Doctor. "I noticed the handwriting as well."

"Well, I'm sorry that those things happened to you, Doctor, but I do have something that I think might cheer you up," said Shadow. "You see, I was recently at a burning down building, saving people, when something caught my eye in the kitchen. How, I thought, could anything in a small cafe such as that produce such a large explosion? Well, now I have my answer. The killer was aware of something that was in there, and the cat who possessed it. It probably didn't take much to set off," he reached into his quills and produced a rectangular jewel that glowed with its own flame, "a Sol Emerald."

The Doctor had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud. The Chaotix were gaping at him, as was Rouge. Then, Rouge gave him a small smile and said, "Looks like being my partner all this time taught you how to steal things, huh?"

Shadow tossed the Emerald towards the laughing scientist, who caught it with regaining composure. "Shadow, my boy, you never disappoint." Shadow smiled smugly at this. "And also, I think we're one step closer to solving this case."

"Why is that?" asked Rouge.

"To be able to rip though so much concrete and steel at such fast rates would require incredibly sharp surfaces. My estimation is that means either the quills of a hedgehog or-"

"The claws of a cat," finished Shadow.

**Well, are the suspicions and theories forming? I hope they are. In any case, stay tuned. There's more where this came from. Au revoir.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Greetings, Internet. I think that this chapter just about killed me. I thought I knew what I was going to do with it, but it turned out that I REALLY didn't. Anyways, sorry about that, but you're probably used to my lazy delays. Enjoy.**

Act III: Scream

Chapter 3: Tvil

Shadow looked absent-mindedly out of the window. Finally, they had solid evidence. They finally knew something about the killer. The person who left behind no evidence could now be known. He would have smiled brightly if not for what it meant. Based on what they had previously gathered, the killer was someone in close contact with him. With what the Doctor had just told them, it was most likely either a hedgehog or a cat. That left only four suspects: Sonic, Silver, Blaze, and Jen. He had already ruled Amy out because her quills were not particularly sharp, nor was she very good with the spin dash.

Based on the note about being bored, he would say Sonic was very likely. Still, anyone could tell you that Sonic was very entertained by foiling the Doctor's plans. Then there was the fact that Sonic had never been present during any of the killer's phone calls. But that could also be said about the other suspects. What really mattered was what Sonic could possibly gain by killing all of these people. Shadow could think of nothing.

Next came Silver. It was certainly not impossible. Clearly, he was telling the truth about being from the future, but that didn't really prove his innocence. It seemed unlikely that he would have set off the Sol Emerald right next to his partner. Then again, she didn't have a single burn from the entire ordeal. Was it possible that fire didn't affect her, and Silver was exploiting this? Also, it was possible that his ability to read minds was a total sham. He probably had already known their real names before Shadow and Rouge had given him their aliases. Was his eagerness to help nothing more than a facade?

Then there was Blaze. He knew next to nothing about her other than she went back in time with Silver and had a Sol Emerald. There was so little to go off of that it was difficult to tip the scales of her favor either way. It was clear that she was the more down-to-earth of the two, but that was hardly any kind of evidence.

Finally, there was Jen. Shadow was actually growing increasingly suspicious of her. She seemed to be a bit too kind, a bit too smart, a bit too helpful. How was she able to know all of the answers to the riddles when he and all of his friends couldn't solve them? Why did she always pop in at times when it was incredibly convenient? Why was she always around when no one else was? The more he thought about it, the more unsettling it became.

The sky was once again cloudy and bleak. In fact, the sun had not come out for the past few days. Snow had not come yet, but the increasingly cold weather would soon bring it. Everything that was once warm and bright now turned dark and cold. Shadow could feel it. Everything was becoming irritating to him; the people around him, the entire situation, even his own inaction.

"If you ask me, that hedgehog has something to do with it," said the Doctor. "The note is proof enough of that. Who else would become bored by my absence?"

"I seriously doubt that Sonic would do all of the things that he's done," said Espio. "He doesn't have it in his eyes."

"Oh, excuse me, oh mighty ninja eye-reader, but I was under the impression that we were going off of solid evidence," retorted the Doctor.

"Hey! Don't talk to Espio like that!" shouted Charmy. "He would kick your fat butt across the country!"

"Shut up, you little pest. I kill your kind with a spray can."

"Oh, it is ON!"

"Will you all just shut up?" snapped Shadow. Everyone turned to look at him. Their recent experiences with him would not have given them the impression that he was capable of such an outburst. He continued more calmly, "In case you haven't realized it, there is a killer out there who has only ten lives to take before someone, likely one of you, dies. And then what happens? Do you think that after that he will stop killing? More people will die, and without the riddles, there will be nothing that we can do to save them. If we don't stop him here and now, it's over. I'm losing my patience with all of you. Clearly, you don't understand that catching this man is my purpose. Making this world safe for its people is what I live for. Catching him will achieve that. I need to catch him."

Charmy looked ashamed with himself. Eggman seemed a bit indignant at being addressed that way, but was silent.

"Hey," said Rouge. "Calm down, you don't need to talk like that. Haven't I taught you there's more to life than that?"

Shadow shot her a harsh look to which she recoiled slightly. Seeing her like that made him soften up somewhat. "I know what I'm doing, Rouge. Right now I need you all to focus. Maybe I should tell you all the riddle."

"Yes," said Eggman, "splendid idea. Let us hear it."

Shadow repeated the words that had been racing through his head for the past few hours.

"_My host thinks me an irritation, a bother, a pain. _

_But he can't evict me so I stay, remain. _

_Then one day I'm taken and ranked among my peers._

_Can you guess what I am? Then you might call me dear._

He also mentioned 46th] street."

The cycle began anew as everyone began thinking as hard as they could. Then, Rouge interjected. "Wait, this is pointless. We never solve these riddles by ourselves. It's always your cat friend, what's her name?"

"Jen," said Shadow. "And I think it best we leave her out of this one."

"Wait, why?" asked Charmy.

"Didn't we just cover it, Charmy?" said Vector. "The killer is either a hedgehog or a cat."

"And it's very suspicious that she was able to answer every riddle without fail," explained Espio.

"But that doesn't mean that she hasn't been really useful," argued Rouge.

"Think, Rouge, how many hedgehogs and cats do we know?" asked Shadow.

This caught her slightly off guard. "Well, there's future boy and his girlfriend."

"Maybe we should ask Mr. eye reader over here if they look like they could do it," proposed Eggman, sarcastically. "How about it? Are they killers? Maybe painters. Ooh, or better yet, underwater basket weavers."

Everyone chose to ignore this crack. "It's difficult to tell," said Espio. "The cat looks very pure, but the hedgehog is a bit of a mystery. There seems to be a lot going on there."

"But you're certain that you can rule out the cat?" asked Shadow.

Espio thought for a moment. "There is no way to be absolutely certain with these things. But yes, I do not see any murderous intent in her eyes."

"That settles it, then," said Shadow.

"What do you mean?" asked Vector.

"We can all agree that it is not Sonic or Blaze, and I am confident that it is not Silver. The only person left is Jen."

The room stayed silent for a brief spiel. "That is quite a conclusion to reach, Shadow," warned Espio. "Didn't you tell us when you came to our home that we should consider you a suspect as well?"

Shadow paused. "I think that if I were a killer, I would know."

"Maybe you would, but would we?" asked Espio. "What makes you innocent?"

"Espio!" said Vector. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm not saying anything. I'm asking why we should believe that he is not the killer. Did anyone see him whenever these killings happened?"

No one answered. He was right. Shadow had never actually been around anyone when the killings occurred. At least, not the ones that could have been previously set up.

"I didn't think so," said Espio. "And do we even have proof that this 'Jen' girl exists?"

"Listen, purple boy," said Eggman, "I'm not one to accuse my own grandfather's creations of mass murder. Sure, he tried it before, but those days are over. Besides, if he were the killer, he would have taken my grandfather's DNA when he attacked my base."

"Thank you," said Rouge. "At least someone has some common sense."

"Unless," continued Espio, "it was a joint operation."

"Now you're just talking crazy, Espio," said Vector, "Shadow didn't do it."

"What if Shadow and this Silver person are somehow both carrying out these killings? Maybe Shadow's Chaos Control and Silver's telepathic abilities allow them to quickly make killings and modify memories to make it so that the watchers don't remember a thing?"

"That's enough," said Rouge.

"And what motivation would the two of them have? Is Silver some psychopath that disguises himself with an oblivious act to play to the rest of the world? Is Shadow convinced that the only way to fulfill Maria's wish is to purge the world of evil by killing its people? Does he think that that is the only way to make them happy?" 

Shadow lost it. He launched himself at the purple chameleon, his hand glowing with Chaos Energy. Espio's training allowed himself barely enough time to leap out of the way of the incoming hedgehog. Shadow, missing Espio, ended up striking the wall with his energized hand. The wall was almost entirely decimated. There were cries of shock and fear from all around. Eggman let out a "Gah!" as he quickly tapped his wrist and regained his Sells disguise. Silver and the others burst through the door, ready to take on any danger, but instead, found Shadow. He slowly turned his head to look at Espio with a look that might have killed a lesser man.

"If you ever say anything even remotely of that nature ever again, I will knock you all the way into that computer room that you numbskulls were looking for," threatened Shadow.

"Shadow!" cried Rouge. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Probably," replied Shadow dryly.

Espio betrayed the slightest bit of nervousness with a sweat drop running down the side of his face as Shadow never let him out of his murderous gaze. "You have no right to talk about Maria in that way, or any way at all. If you're so blind as to not see the flaw in your logic, allow me to fill you in. Maria loved life. It was the most important thing to her in the whole world. She cherished it, and made the most of it both for herself and for everyone around her. Death was the worst thing to ever plague this world to her, and she wanted more than anything else that death would be defeated. Ironic that the people of this planet whom she wanted to help live killed her in cold blood, wouldn't you say?" A tear escaped his eye as he said this. "All that matters to me now is that Maria's wish be fulfilled. For that, the killer must be stopped at any cost."

Suddenly Shadow felt himself being grabbed from behind and turned around. He then felt a stinging pain on his cheek as he was slapped very hard by Rouge. "Snap out of it Shadow!" she shouted. "Listen to yourself! Before all of this started, you wouldn't have said that. You're becoming obsessed. Are you saying that catching this guy is the reason for your existence right now? It's like you've gone back to the way you were before you learned how to live. Yes, he needs to be stopped, but it's not worth throwing your entire life toward one thing. Just calm down so we can figure this out."

Shadow took a deep breath. The fact that she had slapped him was enough to convince him that she was very serious… or concerned. Instead of replying to her, though, he turned and walked to the window. He opened it then said, "Maybe I am obsessed, but right now, this is the one thing that I find worth being obsessed about. I'm going to find Jen. If she won't answer me, she has another thing coming." With that, he took out his Chaos Emerald and teleported away from all of them.

He reappeared an instant later in the park. What did they know? They didn't experience the pain that he had just gone through; what he had been going through ever since this started. Sure, he hadn't acted like this in a long time, but these were desperate times. So what if he got carried away in the mission? He'd be back to normal as soon as the killer was caught. Rouge was looking at him like he was a completely different person. He hadn't changed. She was blind for not seeing that it was still him. And the nerve of Espio for accusing him of being the murderer. What possible reason could he have to kill anyone? He was blind as well to think even for an instant that, after nearly dying to save the world, he would kill innocent people. He didn't need them. All they were doing was slowing him down and distracting him from his objective.

Turning his attention towards the objective, he began walking around in the wintry air looking for Jen. A bit of snow had begun to fall. The sky was still gray and bleak, but flakes of white were now dancing in the air. There were a few Mobians here and there, some humans dressed in coats and jackets. None of them turned to look at anyone. Each had their own place to go, and were not talking or even acknowledging one another. His breath fogged the open air as he continued his search. He knew that she would likely be sitting still somewhere, being one of the artistic types. A few minutes search, however, produced no conclusion. He had checked every other place where he had met her before, but she was nowhere to be found. Where was she? She was always here. It was never this much of a strain to look for her. It was almost as if there was some force that had always guided him to her, but wasn't there anymore. Was she just at home right now? That would be bad, considering he had no idea where she lived. Thinking quickly, he closed his eyes and began searching for large nonmoving forms of energy in the area. In his mind's eye, he saw whitish shapes moving around him that were the people walking through the park. There was energy all around him, but he only needed to find a large collection of it. There were many people giving off energy, the fountain was giving off kinetic energy, a few non-Mobian animals along the water also made themselves apparent. Most of the grass and plants were dead, so that removed a major distraction. However, he could still not find a large enough energy source that was sitting still. He opened his eyes. Apparently, she either wasn't sitting still or wasn't there at all.

He was running out of time. At any minute, the killer could claim more lives. And what if this riddle was the last? Did he intend to take out ten people in one shot? People had apparently begun to stay at home more for fear of being another one of the victims, so it might be difficult to find a collection of ten. Even so, finding Jen was vital at this point. He ran as fast as he could while still being able to make sense of the world blurring around him. Left and right, up and down, no matter where he looked, he couldn't find her anywhere.

"Shadow!" called a voice. He turned to see Silver running towards him.

"Finally decided to help?" asked Shadow, curtly.

"I have been helping," said Silver, indignantly. "You don't have to push us all away. It'll only end up slowing you down even more."

Shadow gave a sigh that was made visible by the cold air. "Look, this is something that I have to do. Do you have any idea how important this task is to me?"

"I know how important it is to me," replied Silver. "It involves saving the future from certain destruction. That includes my friends, family, and everyone else on the planet. I also have a promise to fulfill. I promised everyone that could have been saved had the madman been stopped that I would make sure that they would be saved. Shadow, listen to yourself. You're playing right into destiny's hand. Perhaps this case is driving you insane. If that's the case, then you are also destined to failure because nothing else could cause you so much rage that you would destroy the population of an entire planet."

Shadow thought for a moment. Maybe Silver was right. "Even so, I need to do this. That also means that I need your help."

"Good," said Silver, "than I shall provide it. Where is she?"

"I have no idea," admitted Shadow.

"I can try to sense her presence," said Silver. He closed his eyes in the same fashion that Shadow had before. Strangely, within a few seconds, Silver's eyes snapped open, and he pointed in a direction, declaring, "There she is."

They walked in the direction that Silver had pointed in and soon came across Jen, lying on her back, holding a piece of paper. Shadow was thoroughly baffled. How had he not sensed her when she was so close to them and lying still. In fact, how had she escaped his vision when she was lying still, the only kind of energy that he was searching for? No matter, he needed her answers.

"Jen," he called, a bit less friendly than usual.

She lowered the paper she was holding and sat up. She smiled when she saw the two of them. "Hi, Shadow. Hi, Silver. Is there another riddle for me?"

"How did you guess?" asked Shadow with non-hostile sarcasm.

"_My host thinks me an irritation, a bother, a pain. _

_But he can't evict me so I stay, remain. _

_Then one day I'm taken and ranked among my peers._

_Can you guess what I am? Then you might call me dear._

46th street is also involved."

She immediately plopped back down into her lying position and thought. He heard her mumbling parts of the riddle to herself as she tried to find the answer. Then, as always, she sat bolt upright and said, "Pearls." Shadow simply nodded while Silver congratulated her. "Is that all you needed?" she asked.

"No," replied Shadow, his manner becoming grave. "I do need one more thing."

"O-Ok," she said.

"Silver, you get back to the others and tell them the answer. I need to talk with her for a few minutes," said Shadow.

Silver looked a bit hesitant. "Just keep yourself in line," he told him.

"Right," said Shadow. With that, Silver took out his Chaos Emerald and disappeared.

"So what is it, Shadow?" asked Jen.

"I'm going to be very frank with you. You are my strongest suspect for being the killer," said Shadow. "If I'm going to believe you when you say you're not the killer, I need proof that everything else you've told me wasn't a lie. For that, I'm going to need to meet this tutor of yours."

She seemed to be frozen in place. Her eyes were wide open with what looked like horror. "Well… uh, I…" she stuttered.

"Your response isn't helping your case," Shadow told her. "Just take me to him, and we can sort out your defense."

"I… I can't," she admitted as she lowered her head.

"You know, the more secretive you are, the more suspicious I become. Can you at least tell me his address?"

"N-No," she said. She sounded horrified.

"Can you give me any proof that he exists? A picture, maybe?"

She made a sort of whining moan and shook her head.

"So what you're saying is that you can't prove that he exists, or that he doesn't exist at all."

"No, I…. I don't know," she said, softly.

"You don't know," he repeated with disbelief.

"I can't explain it, but I literally can't tell you."

"You do realize that almost any doubts that I had about you being the killer have been erased, right?"

Tears began streaming down her face. "It's not me," she said, desperately.

He was about to make a move toward her when his cell phone vibrated. He took it out to see a text message from Rouge telling him to meet the others at 46th street. "Alright, I need to go. This time, I'm taking you with me." When he looked up, though, she had disappeared. He looked in every direction, but found her nowhere in sight. "So that's it, then," he said. He opened his cell phone and called Rouge. When he heard her pick up, he simply said, "Rouge, we officially have a target. If you see a brown cat on your search, take her down." Without waiting for her answer, he activated his jet shoes and rocketed off from the site, toward 46th street.

**What do you think? Is Shadow right? Well, you'll find out. The big reveal is coming up next chapter. That chapter probably won't take as long as this one did because I actually know what I want to do with it. Btw, the title of this chapter means 'doubt' in Norwegian. Farvel. **


	32. Chapter 32

**Here it is. This is the chapter you've all been waiting for. I wanted to take my time in writing this because it's so pivotal in the story, so I hope you like what I came up with. Enjoy.**

**(P.S. Congrats to the Mavericks for winning the NBA Championship. Way to represent the city where I was born.)**

Act III: Silence

Chapter 4: Luci finale Spento

The whole city rushed around Shadow. His heart beat with a vigor that he had not felt in months. This was it. This was where the truth finally came out. With every stride, he grew closer to uncovering the mystery. With every breath, he ran for the truth. He hadn't felt like this since he was trying to uncover his true identity. It was like trying to make sense of the world around him again. Nothing was going to stop him. He could already picture capturing Jen, and her telling him the true name of the killer. He saw himself tackling that elusive silhouette and ripping of the voice-changing muzzle. Justice would prevail. Maria would be happy. The world would be safe once more.

His eyes darted from side to side, frantically searching for the brown of Jen's fur, for those ocean blue eyes that held the truth. Before now, she had uncovered the truth in a different way, allowing him to save lives. But he was beginning to sense that she wasn't counting on him actually saving them. Perhaps her plan was to put him close enough to save them, but then take away his hope at the last minute. In that respect, she had succeeded on many occasions.

Shadow could still picture the victims' faces. The little girl under the bridge, the hedgehog in the coffin, the six on the riverboat, the ones on the tower, the District Attorney, he hadn't seen the violinists, but he had seen Tails. Then there were all of those that had died in the fire. He remembered them as well. Their limp bodies burning, lifeless, blackened by the fires. In one stroke, the killer had taken half of his allotted victims. He seemed to want to end this quickly. His earlier victims had been in far fewer number, almost as if he was savoring their deaths. Now, it seemed, he was growing bored of the game and wanted to bring it to a swift conclusion.

Now or never, he thought. If he was ever going to stop the madman, it would be now. With fire in his eyes that would frighten any villain, he sped off in pursuit of the cat that would reveal everything.

Rouge looked carefully through the scope of her sniper rifle. In the reticule was the door of a jewelry store; the only one on 46th street. Perched atop a building directly across the street, she had a perfectly clear shot. Under normal circumstances, the contents of the store would be alluring and tempting to her. Now, she could think of nothing more sickening. This was it, she thought. If there was ever a person to kill, it would be here. She envisioned a woman going up to a particularly nice set of pearls, then someone would come up behind her with a knife, raising it to kill her. Rouge then saw herself pulling the trigger, the window shattering, and the killer finally collapsing dead on the floor. Piece of cake, right? That person killed people, and turned Shadow into something he wasn't. He deserved to die.

Rouge was particularly nervous here. Of course, she knew how to use the weapon; she had been trained. But could she really end someone's life? It was something she had never done before. The only things she had shot were dummies filled with sand. When she took her shots, the sand would start pouring out of the dummy's head. Today, it wouldn't be sand coming out of the target's head. Her hands started to tremble slightly. No, she thought, you have to relax with this weapon. She took a deep breath, and her grip steadied. This was something she had to do. For the good of the city, the world, and for Shadow, it had to be done.

"Rouge, are you okay?" asked Tails. He was hovering directly above her. Thankfully, he had retained the use of his tails and could still fly. Sonic was practically in tears when he had taken off from his chair. Right now, he was giving the group a bird's eye view of the situation.

"I'm fine," said Rouge, shortly. She could do this. A bead of sweat came down the side of her face.

"You look a little worried," said Tails. "Are you nervous?"

"Of course not!" she snapped. "I know what I'm doing!"

"Okay," said Tails, a bit downtrodden.

Rouge sighed. She didn't mean to snap at him like that. "Sorry," she said. "It's the first time I've had to use this to... you know."

"I know what you mean," said the kitsune. "I'm a little scared too."

"I mean, even Shadow doesn't kill people. How am I supposed to do it?"

"I... I don't know," said Tails. "Can you do it without killing him?"

"I can try but... it'll be harder if I'm aiming somewhere I wasn't trained to aim."

They didn't know what to say. Why was this so hard to figure out? He'd probably be executed for what he did if he was caught, anyway. What was the difference in doing it now?

The difference was that Rouge was holding the figurative ax, and the killer was taunting her for not having the guts to end it. She squeezed her eyes shut out of stress. The barrel of the gun lowered.

"Rouge," called a voice from her radio. It was Espio. "Your trajectory is off. Unless you plan on shooting the pavement, you'll want to aim higher."

"Sorry," she said. She opened her eyes and readjusted.

"Are you nervous?"

She hesitated. Though it was difficult to admit, she said, "A little."

"Relax," said Espio. "I know how you feel. It's hard taking a life for the first time. But you have to listen to me. If you don't do it now, it means a lot more people will die. It's hard to do, but think ahead to what doing this will mean. You'll have blood on your hands for a little while, but think about it. Does this person really have anything to look forward to but death? Death is a sad thing, even for criminals, but he's made a living killing people. It's only fitting that he should reap what he sows."

She stayed silent. She knew that he was right. Death was what he wanted, so death was what he would get. Her grip on the weapon tightened. "I'm ready," she said.

"Wait a minute," came Sells' voice. "I think I see a brown cat."

She started. So soon? How did she get here so fast? "Where is she?" She took her eyes from the scope and began frantically looking up and down the street.

"She's by the book shop, walking toward the jewelry store."

Rouge's eyes darted to the left of the jewelry store. There was a crowd of people there. They were all crowded around a window for the release of a new book. Finally, she saw her. A brown cat, walking alone.

"I'm following her," said Sells.

Rouge took the weapon back up. The scope was now trained on the cat's head, slowly following her as she walked down the street. This was the one that had been answering all of the riddles, but was Shadow's number one suspect.

"I'll get her from the other side," came Sonic's voice. Rouge briefly looked up to see him walking towards the jewelry store from the other side.

"Careful," said Knuckles. "If she's who Shadow says she is, she's really dangerous."

The cat then stopped. "She's stopped," said Rouge into her radio. "I still have a clear shot in case she tries anything." The cat looked over her shoulder as if she was being followed. "Watch out," she said, "I think she might be onto you." No sooner had she said it, then the cat turned tail and walked briskly down a nearby alley. "She's going into an alley," said Rouge. The walk turned into a run, and then she darted behind the jewelry store building. "She's behind the jewelry store, hurry!" she called.

Looking up from the scope, she saw Sells and Sonic pushing past crowds on either side of the building. "We're going in," said Sells. Then, the two took to the alleys on either side of the building.

"I'll cover you," said Knuckles. Rouge saw him glide onto the building just as Sells and Sonic disappeared behind it. Then, there was silence.

"Do you see her?" asked Rouge. No reply came. "Sonic? Sells?" There was still no reply. Only the crackling of the radios came out. "Knuckles, what's going on over there?" asked Rouge, a bit disturbed.

"I'm not sure," said Knuckles. He was looking down the back of the building to where Sonic and Sells were supposed to be. "I'm going down there to see."

"Be careful," said Espio.

"Right," said Knuckles. "Here goes." With that, he jumped down into the space behind the building.

"Are you alright?" asked Rouge. An eerie silence was her only response. "Knuckles!" she shouted. There was still no answer. This was not good.

"Sonic!" shouted Amy's voice.

"Ms. Amy, please come back!" called Cream's soft voice.

A pink shape was running down the street, shoving people out of her way as she did. A small tan rabbit was following closely behind her as if being dragged.

"Amy, don't go back there!" shouted Espio. "It's too dangerous!"

She paid no heed to this, but ran into the alley, with Cream at her heels. "I'll try to stop her," said Tails. He propelled himself toward the building at top speed, trying to reach it before the desperate pink hedgehog.

Amy was running quickly towards the back of the building, but now Tails was descending quickly in an attempt to grab her. He reached out for her, but was an instant too late as she turned the corner and disappeared behind the building. Tails and Cream were close behind her.

"Tails! Tails, can you hear me?" asked Espio. Again, only the haunting static reached Rouge's ears. Her eyes were wide with horror. They were gone. They were gone and there was nothing she could do. Unless...

"Rouge, stay right where you are," directed Espio. "Vector, Charmy, and I are going to check it out. If we disappear too, don't come for us. Go get the police, or wait for Shadow. You can't go in there alone."

"B-But... your arm is-"

"Rouge, this isn't the time. I'll be fine with Vector and Charmy. Just stay right there, and don't do anything rash."

She stood frozen in place. The forms of the Chaotix were now slowly moving down the alley. She was absolutely horrified. Everyone she knew was going behind that building, and none of them were coming back. Were they already dead? What was going on back there? She wanted so badly to know. And where was Shadow?

Espio was against the side of the building and the others were behind him. Slowly, he turned his head to look behind the building. "I don't see anything," he said into the radio. "We're going back there. Remember not to follow us." The Chaotix got into a power formation with Vector in the center and Charmy and Espio on either side of him. Slowly, they crept into the space behind the building.

"No sign of any trouble yet," said Espio. "I'm not sure what's-"

The line went dead before he finished his sentence. Rouge immediately stood up. That was it. She was all alone now. Her only hope was to find Shadow.

She quickly packed up her rifle and headed for the side of the building. Every breath she took was frozen in the wintry air. She was in somewhat of a panic. She'd dealt with killers before, but none that could take out Sonic, or Knuckles, or anyone like that. How could someone even do that?

Rouge spread her wings to take off from the building. She could try hovering over the alley to try to see anything, then look for Shadow if nothing showed up. Her wings began catching the frigid air and she rose into flight. The coldness stung her wings, and occasionally a few snowflakes would hit them as well. Steadily, she began flapping her wings, and her flight was stabilized. The street didn't take long to get across, but a few passerby's looked up and stared for a moment. Passing over the jewelry store, she landed carefully on the building behind it. She turned and looked down into the alleyway.

There was a concrete street that led to the two adjacent alleyways that the others had used to get there. No sign of any of her friends, no sign of any disturbance at all. The only thing there was a sign of was neglect of care with scattered litter, open dumpsters, white stains on the concrete, and a few insects. She knew that she shouldn't jump down there as Knuckles did, but couldn't think of any other way to investigate.

'Alright,' she thought, 'I need to find Shadow, or the police, or someone who can help. But how am I supposed to get them over here so fast?' An idea dawned on her. 'Wait, I'm right next to a jewelry store! All I have to do is act like I'm robbing them, and the police will come running!' She smirked at her brilliant scheme. She might even get away with a few things during the commotion.

Rouge immediately stood up and dropped her sniper rifle, ready to run for the front doors.

"Big mistake," said a processed voice from behind her.

Before she could even turn around, a pair of arms wrapped around her, and a strong-smelling rag was pressed up against her face.

"What is your problem, dude?" asked the fifth brown cat that Shadow had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. This one was a man.

"Never mind, just keep walking," said Shadow, pushing the cat away. He rocketed another block towards 46th street. This was getting frustrating. He knew she wouldn't be able to reach 46th street by now unless she looked incredibly conspicuous. Then again, the killer did have a Chaos Emerald...

His cell phone rang once. He quickly whipped it out and opened it. "Where are you?" he demanded.

"If you really wanted to know, Shadow, you should've just asked in the first place," said the voice that Shadow had come to hate more than anything. "I just ran into some of your friends and invited them to a little get-together. You really should come. It's most entertaining. We're right over in that warehouse where you first saw me." The voice added a threatening tone when it added, "And you'll want to come quickly if you want to see them alive."

The line went dead. For a moment, Shadow simply stood there in shock. Realization was crashing into him like a tidal wave. The killer had his friends. He was powerful enough to capture all of them at once. This was it. He withdrew his Chaos Emerald, held it into the air, and disappeared from the spot.

He reappeared directly at the door that he had stood in front of only a few days ago, following the killer's orders, just as he was doing now. Everything that had happened since he first received the call was leading up to this. All of the preparation, the riddles, and deaths were all converging on this one point. He thought back to Silver. If he failed here, the future was doomed. He reached into his quills and pulled out a Desert Eagle, fully loaded. After he put away his Chaos Emerald, he raised the gun to eye level. Then, he slowly reached for the doorknob, not lowering the weapon a centimeter. He was not nervous in the slightest. He knew who he was, and what the killer was. His free hand found the doorknob and twisted it. It creaked slightly as it did, sometimes becoming stiff from the rust. When it was fully turned, he gave the door a shove, and it opened.

The room was completely black but for the little light that was coming in from the door. "Step inside," directed the killer's voice. How he hated that voice. It had brought him nothing but despair. Now, he would complete that cycle of despair. Cautiously, he did as he was told. His shoe hit the concrete floor with a clank that echoed through the large room. The air inside smelled of mold and rust. "Shut the door," said the voice. Without moving his gun at all, he caught the door with his foot, and closed it, causing an echoing crash.

The room was pitch black. There were absolutely no noises. Shadow could barely hear himself breathing, but he felt his heart thumping. Was he afraid after all? No, he couldn't be. There was no time to be.

"Welcome, Shadow," said the killer, "to the endgame."

"No more games, Jen," said Shadow. "Just show me your face. I thought that it would go well with a few bullets."

The killer chuckled. "How naiive of you to assume you know who I am, or that you can kill me. I've just been playing my game fair and square. I have given you fifty chances, and here are your last."

A single spotlight was switched on. Because of the previous darkness, it took some time for the object within the light to come into focus. What he saw was terrifying. He saw Dr. Eggman, bound and gagged in a chair with a bloody number 10 in his rotund torso. He was the next victim? Had this been planned from the beginning?

Another spotlight came on next to the Doctor, and there was Cream, bound and gagged all the same with a number 9 on her body. Her large eyes were wide with pain and horror. "You filthy whore!" shouted Shadow. "You couldn't even spare the kid!"

The next spotlight came on to reveal Amy with a number 8. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, and was whimpering slightly. How afraid she must be.

Then came Charmy with a number 7. He had never looked more scared in his whole life. No, this wasn't happening. Shadow wanted to scream again, but the horror of the situation caught it in his throat.

Next was Vector with a number 6. He was bruised with a black eye that was almost swelled shut. How could this have happened?

Espio was number 5. The cast on his arm was broken open, and his arm appeared to be broken again. All of his friends, reduced to merely numbers in the killer's eyes.

Knuckles was number 4. He was also bruised and somewhat bloodied. His expression was very vacant and distant, as if drugged. Impossible.

Tails was number 3. His legs were not bound, but his tails were. He appeared to be somewhat drugged as well. No, it couldn't be true.

Sonic was number 2. It pained Shadow to see the great hero so beaten. The normally blue tint of his skin was now almost entirely a dark purple. His head hung low, possibly knocked out from the drugs. Now he knew this couldn't be true. Sonic could never be captured.

Rouge was number 1. Tears were coming down her face like a heavy rain. She looked towards Shadow with a look that nearly killed him. All of the fear, torment, and horror that lied within it was unbearable. And the killer did this to her. Rage began boiling in Shadow's veins. Dream or not, no one, real or fake, did this to Rouge. He could feel the hot tears of fury pouring down his face. Whatever anger was coursing under his skin seemed to boil them as they slid down. His grip on his gun tightened to the point that it almost bent in his grasp. "I'll kill you!" he screamed. "I swear I'll kill you!"

"Don't worry, they're all still alive for now," said the killer, dismissively.

"All of those others aren't!" shouted Shadow. "You are an abomination not fit to exist! I swear that I will kill you and tear you apart with my bear hands!" Even Shadow was a bit surprised at these animalistic threats, but he didn't care right now. Nothing mattered but justice.

Or was it more revenge?

"Well, I'm terribly sorry that you did not like my game. Speaking of which, it looks like you've lost. And now that you have failed to stop me, the person closest to you dies."

A new spotlight came on in front of the line of ten. Shadow couldn't believe his eyes. There, kneeling on the ground, was Jen. Her hands and feet were bound, and she looked at Shadow despairingly. This was impossible! Jen was supposed to be the killer! How was she the closest to him?

A silhouette appeared just behind where the spotlight could reach it. Its arm raised, and a large handgun appeared in the light.

"No!" screamed Shadow! He reached out with his Chaos powers, and hit the spot where the silhouette stood. "Chaos Paralysis!"

For a moment, time seemed to stop. The arm had not fully raised itself to point the weapon at Jen. Jen was frozen on the ground with fear. Shadow concentrated all of his Chaos Energy at the spot to prevent the gun from going to Jen. Then, there was laughter.

It was a small chuckle at first, but then it grew louder. The processer made it even more grotesque and sinister than it probably already was. The laughter rose in volume and pitch, slowly becoming more mocking and victorious until it grew into a violent peal of insane shrieks and bursts of pure malicious triumph. Then, the unthinkable happened.

The gun was raised, and fired. Jen was shot clean through the head. Her ocean blue eyes sank and became lifeless. The blood began pooling around her body as the laughter began to subside. "How I've waited to do that," said the killer.

Shadow screamed. All of his fury, frustration, vengeance, rage, and bloodlust came out into a long and terribly loud scream. Dropping all of his patience or second thoughts, he pulled the trigger of his gun, and it fired directly at the killer.

A milisecond after he pulled the trigger, a thought grazed his mind that perhaps Shadow killing him was exactly what the killer wanted. Hadn't he resigned from G.U.N. because he did not even want to kill criminals? But then, he remembered all of the people that this man had killed, what was happening right now. The thought disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Nothing happened. Smoke came from the barrel of the gun. The shape never moved, never swayed, never gave any signs that he had just been shot. Shadow let out another shout and fired again. Nothing happened. Then, round after round, Shadow continued to unload ammunition and rage into the shape in front of him. But it would not budge. Every time, he fired, he became more and more infuriated at the shape's refusal to lay down and die.

Then, just as Shadow was about to fire the last round in his magazine, a muzzle came skittering across the floor in front of him. It was what the killer had used to disguise his voice.

Slowly but surely, the shadow stepped out of the darkness, revealing himself for the first time.

He was wearing what would have been the most sinister sadistic smile that Shadow had ever seen...

...if he had a mouth to smile with.

Of all the things that Shadow had just witnessed, this was by far the most terrifying. It looked exactly like him. Only that wasn't entirely true. Its quills had grayish blue stripes instead of red, and his eyes were different. Shadow had thought that the red hue of his own eyes was intimidating, but the killer's eyes were so much more. They were a sickly green with slits for pupils. Even Shadow was terrified of the soulless void that lied behind those eyes, as if they held the key to everything horrible in this world. Eyes worthy of a creature of hell.

Though he had no mouth, his face showed every sign of sick contentment and victory. "You lose," he said. His voice was deep and malicious. Though it was smooth, it was all to obvious that there was something sinister in that voice. If he had a mouth, Shadow was sure that his tongue would be silver. "I told you that I would have you this time. You took everything away from me, and now I have done the same to you. You're welcome."

Shadow was dumbfounded. What was this man... this thing talking about? He had never seen him before in his entire life. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Aw, he doesn't remember me? Well, I suppose that being erased from existence, it's to be expected that people will forget you. Very well, if you really wish to know, I will show you." He took a step toward Shadow. But then, something happened that stopped everything.

The door behind him flung open. Shadow turned around to see Silver and Blaze rushing into the room. He could not have been more relieved to see them. It was as if the very sight of the monstrosity had a draining effect, and looking away from it was the only cure..

Silver ran to Shadow's side. His eyes began glowing as he looked at the killer. The killer, in turn, raised his gun. "Not another step forward, Silver," he said.

Blaze's hands were now on fire. But something wasn't right. Was she looking at Shadow with that ferocious look in her eyes?

"Put the gun down," said Silver, looking directly at the killer. "You are outnumbered."

"Silver, who are you talking to?" asked Blaze.

What? What was she talking about? Could she not see that creature that was standing right in front of him? He was commanding the attention of the entire room! And why was she still looking at him as if he were the target?

"Blaze, I'm talking to the killer. Look at him, he's right there!"

She looked at Silver as if he were as dumb as a post. "Silver, the killer is standing right next to you! Look, he's even pointing a gun at you!"

The killer began laughing. "I hate to break it to you, but she's right. Here, maybe I should lift the veil."

And indeed, it did seem as though a veil was lifted. Shadow was, indeed, still standing next to Silver. The killer, however, had vanished. He turned to look at Silver, but realized that his arm was holding the barrel of his gun up to Silver's head.

**Warning! Please do not say his name in your reviews! If there's someone new to the story, I don't want them looking at the reviews and having the ending spoiled. Anyway, now that we know who the killer is, it's time for me to play the part of Ishizu and explain everything. Stay tuned and find out exactly how I -I mean- Mephiles did it. **


	33. Chapter 33

**Here it is, boys and girls. This is the last chapter of our story. It's been a really exciting ride, and I hope you've enjoyed it. Now, you get to see how everything happened, and what happens next. For one last time, enjoy.**

Act III: Silence

Chapter 5: Life and Death

Several things happened at once. The first was that Silver ducked out of the way of his arm. The second was that Shadow tried to move his arm away from them but couldn't. Then, Blaze threw herself towards Shadow, her hands alight with fire. Before Shadow could even think to dodge, his other arm subconsciously reached out and caught one of Blaze's wrists. He was expecting a burning pain in his hand, but felt nothing. In fact, he had trouble feeling anything at this point. His arms wouldn't obey his commands, and his legs were firmly rooted in place.

Then, to his horror, the arm that was holding his gun flipped the gun to catch its barrel, then struck Blaze on the head with the butt of the gun. She was sent sliding across the floor towards the line of ten who were now struggling more than ever to get free. Shadow wanted to run to help them, but instead, his body turned around to meet a charging Silver.

Silver reached out to punch him, but Shadow's body blocked his hand with his forearm and delivered a kick to his head. Shadow was struggling with every ounce of willpower that he had to make his body stop, but it would not respond. Then, his body followed up with a powerful punch that knocked Silver off his feet. While he was still on the ground, Shadow's body teleported on top of Silver, with his foot in Silver's face. Shadow began struggling more than ever to make his body stop. He knew what it was about to do. It took everything Shadow had, but he finally managed to make his foot hesitate. It began shaking. "Ah ah ah, Shadow." He could hear the killer's true voice in his head. Shadow had grown to hate his false voice, but his true voice terrified him. He was talking to Shadow as if he were a child who had just picked up a toy that didn't belong to him. "I'm in control now. Your body does what I want it to." Then, what Shadow had been dreading happened. His jet shoe activated, and the flames began burning Silver's face.

Shadow's spirit began screaming. It screamed in rage, despair, frustration, agony, and hatred all at once. His body was being used to harm another, a friend. Even though he knew that he was not able to control this, he still cursed himself. What if he was in control? Was this some secret side of him that only wanted pain and destruction? Perhaps whatever Black Arms DNA within him was starving for decimation that Shadow had denied it for so long.

Silver, being far from helpless, telekinetically picked Shadow's body up and threw it across the room. However, it flipped in midair and his feet hit the wall. Shadow still felt nothing.

"Blaze, don't hurt him! He's not in control of his body!" shouted Silver. Shadow felt relieved to hear this. Silver could read minds, so he knew that there had to be something else inside of him.

"If he's not in control, who is?" asked Blaze, getting back onto her feet.

"It is I." Shadow was spellbound. The voice belonged to the killer, but it came from his own mouth. The demonic hedgehog that had appeared to him earlier reappeared in front of him. Even in lacking a mouth, Shadow could almost feel the sadistic triumph radiating from it. "My name is Mephiles."

"Silver, his eyes!" said Blaze.

"I know," replied Silver.

Had he been able to see, Shadow would have known that one of his eyes had retained its red color, but the other had transformed into the empty and terrifying green of Mephiles.

The very name was hauntingly familiar to Shadow. As if he had heard the name, but by some power was not supposed to know it. Whatever it was, he was grateful to not have known it. It was as if he now had the horrible knowledge of the true name of a demon.

"What do you want?" demanded Silver.

Mephiles chuckled. It disgusted Shadow to know that it was coming from his own throat. "Well, my dear Silver, what I want is absolutely nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that I want to erase all life in existence. Erase everything that lives, breathes, or even exists. The problem with this world is that these pathetic life forms have the audacity to claim to exist. How arrogant of them to assume that they have a right to their lives. The only ones fit to live are the gods. I am a god, but alas, an incomplete one. My other half was destroyed, and erased from existence by three pathetic lesser beings. Now, all life must pay the price. I want to destroy everything so that there is absolutely nothing."

In those sentences alone, Mephiles solidified himself as Shadow's worst enemy. Shadow was the guardian of this planet. Mephiles wanted to destroy it. Shadow's duty was to protect the lives of all of Earth's people. Mephiles's sole purpose was to obliterate them. Shadow preserved life. Mephiles brought death.

"Consider yourself lucky, Shadow," said Mephiles. "You have a friend who sees me as well. His cat friend only sees you, slowly being transformed into me."

"Shut up!" shouted Shadow. "I am not you, and I have never been you!"

Mephiles laughed. "Oh, but Shadow, you have been me for your entire life. Thanks to a certain princess, you have had me within you since the day you were born."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Shadow.

Mephiles made Shadow's mouth smile. "I was hoping you'd ask that. Silver, you can read minds, yes? Well then, you should be able to see this as well."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, the image of Mephiles reached out towards Shadow and grasped his head.

There was nothing. He felt nothing. He saw nothing. He was nothing. How? How could it be so? He was a god. A god could never be defeated by three rodents. Now all that remained of him was a miniscule flame. He was pathetic. The shame and despair of defeat had transformed his raging inferno into nothing more than a burning lamp.

"This is where everything began," said a voice.

He knew that voice. Its owner had been instrumental in his plan. He had known the voice for a time. Ever since she had been a small girl and her father had first shown her the flame. It was now as it was then.

"Who knew such a tiny flame could bring such devastation?"

The princess picked up the lamp. He knew that his time had come. Would he be the first god to die? Could the eternal flames be extinguished? But they were no longer eternal.

"If we put out this flame, Solaris will never exist. And we'll never have to worry about the flames of disaster, right?"

True enough. He was about to be wiped off the face of history. But no, he was history. He was a god. He would never be destroyed! There had to be some way!

"But our encounter... You and I will never meet. It will never have happened."

He began listening intently. Was she betraying an aura of doubt? Could this be the chance to ensure survival? He had to take the chance. It was his only choice.

"Elise," he whispered from within the flame. "Do you love him more than anything?"

"I... to tell the truth..." she said.

"If you let even a small piece of me live, you can remember your beloved. You can remember every moment you shared with him."

Elise responded in her thoughts. "But if you do live, it will be forever. How can I live with myself knowing that the one who killed Sonic is alive and well?"

"I don't have to live forever. In fact, I only have to live until this very moment in time. It is a charitable act, really."

"I don't believe you." He could still hear the doubt in her heart.

"All that needs to be done for you to remember him is to accept my offer. Only the tiniest part of me will live, and only for a limited time, but you will remember everything about him for your entire life. And think about it. Don't you love him more than anything else?"

She hesitated in her response. A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Alright," she told him. Out loud, she said, "I don't care what happens to the world!"

His spirit was positively ecstatic. He had done it. He was going to live. Ah, those humans. How fortunate for him that a human only needs the slightest bait to be persuaded to swallow everything: hook, line, and sinker. What a cruel attachment love must be to force such irrational and asinine actions out of those who fall under its spell. For him, it was a two-edged sword. On one end, the princess' love had brought that rat back to life, and caused his downfall. On the other, it caused her to make the greatest exchange that Solaris had ever made.

"Elise," said her beloved. "Just smile."

Yes, Elise, smile. Smile while you can. Smile while you see your one true love running freely through the world without an inkling as to who you are. Try to smile when you wish to catch the attention of your paramour, but he ignores you in pursuit of adventure. Smile when you become an old woman who has lived her entire life, remembering what it was like to be with him, but never being able to live your memories. Hopefully, you won't get that far, though.

He was already devising his ultimate plan for vengeance. He only had so long to live. With what time he had, he would cause as much chaos and annihilation as he possibly could. He would kill every single one of them. And he knew just the vessel to do it in.

The princess exhaled and blew the flames out. But her regret and selfishness kept one piece intact.

Time was rewritten, and Solaris was nothing more than a wisp of Mephiles. He was barely large enough to take the form of the tiniest purple vapor blowing in the wind. Throughout the years, he waited, he schemed, he lived, and all for the destruction of every single living thing.

When the day finally came, he boarded a space shuttle undetected. It took him to the birthplace of one of those responsible for his demise.

Another momentous day came, and he entered the body of the only host that he could possibly survive in: an immortal one.

Shadow could only stare at the image of Mephiles that stood before him. It was true. There was no way to deny it. He was and had been for all of his life, Mephiles. When he was playing with Maria in the ARK corridors, he was there. When he vowed to destroy the world that killed Maria, he was there. When he nearly gave his life to protect the Earth, he was there. In every moment of his life, he had been haunted by a demon; an evil spirit lurking in his shadow. His every move was watched... and experienced by Mephiles. This demigod had been present in every part of his life. He knew everything about Shadow; his strengths, his weaknesses, everything. And now, he had Shadow under his control.

"Did you get all of that, Silver?" asked Mephiles. "I am in control of Shadow's body. Everything that he sees, hears, feels, it is all up to me. If I want him to taste blood in his mouth..." Shadow felt a coppery taste on his tongue. "Or hear a processed voice coming from his cell phone telling him that I have a game for him to play, I can. And to the medical mind, I am perfectly healthy within Shadow. Their machines cannot tell us apart because our lives are bound together. He perceives everything that I show him as reality. In fact, the only reason you see me in front of him, Silver, is because you are subconsciously reading his mind. Everything his mind perceives as reality, yours does as well."

Silver was aghast. "That's... impossible," said Silver.

"If it's impossible, then where is Jen?"

Shadow and Silver looked to the floor where Jen's body lay. But there was nothing there. No bloodstains, no bullet hole, no body, simply a space on the floor that was illuminated by a spotlight.

"You made her disappear," said Silver in disbelief.

"He made who disappear?" asked Blaze.

"Jen," said Silver. "Her body is right there, but I'm reading Shadow's mind, and Mephiles is telling Shadow's mind that it's not there anymore. There's no blood or anything."

Blaze looked at the spot where Silver was pointing. "But I don't see anything either. Am I reading his mind too?"

The grin on Shadow's face widened into a menacing smile. "It's difficult to see something that was never there to begin with."

Shadow and Silver were stunned. What? But he had been speaking to her for so long. She had slept at his apartment, he had bought her coffee, she had showed him her violin. The only thing he hadn't showed him was... her tutor.

"She was an illusion?" asked Silver.

"Yes, but I'm afraid that I cannot take credit for creating this one. I believe you can thank Shadow's own subconscious for that."

Shadow was so astounded that he managed to move his own mouth to shout, "What?" Impossible; that was entirely impossible.

"Well, don't take my word for it," said Mephiles. "Perhaps I should unlock some memories of yours that your own mind kept from you." Mephiles placed his hands on Shadow's head again, and the dark one revealed the truth.

Shadow saw himself on the park bench the day after the first murder. The riddle had been giving him a lot of trouble, and he was about to give up. Then, he looked up, but there was no one there.

"No, I'm not ok. If you don't mind, could you please leave me alone?" he said. There was no reply.

"It's something that doesn't involve you."

The scene continued to play on. Shadow was acting as though he were talking to someone, but in reality, there was no one there.

The memory changed to the night when Shadow had first "seen" the silhouette of Mephiles. Shadow sat at his window. He occasionally looked towards his bed; empty. But he had seen someone there. Then, he saw the next day. He was talking to no one, explaining who he was to the empty air. He came from Blaze's cafe, carrying two beverages. He drank from both of them, but only saw and tasted one. He stood at his bar in Club Rouge, his head turned to meet a door that did not truly open, and took the order of a cat that was not really there. He introduced "her" to Silver. They were both speaking to nothing that seemed to be something. Finally, he saw himself watching an illusion being shot by another illusion, and shooting at one of them in a fiery rage.

The memories faded, and he was brought back to reality. So it was true. Jen was not real.

"What was she?" he managed to ask.

"I can't say for sure," said Mephiles. "The closest thing I can approximate to her is a mental image of a person that appeared when you needed her, and helped relieve your stress.

"You see, I killed those people in order to gain further control of your mind by plunging it into chaos. I nearly had you during the Black Doom incident, but unfortunately, you recovered. It was then that I knew that I'd have to take matters into my own hands in order to take control of your body and exact my revenge. I had already grown used to how your body functioned, so I slowly began controlling your actions without you noticing. I started by making you see things that were not truly there, usually a fire hydrant or something commonplace, then working my way up to completely false images sustained for long periods of time. Slowly, I also began controlling your body while placing these false images in your head. However, I found that your body began recognizing the images as being false if they were there for too long. So to make things less noticeable, I had to make your body preoccupied with huge amounts of stress. And the thing that you hate most in this world is murder.

"I had to make myself into the greatest serial killer of all time; unable to be caught, seen, or heard, leaving no mark of any kind. I knew that to do these kinds of things, I'd need large amounts of resources. Thankfully, one day, you paid a visit to a certain scientist named Dr. Eggman. As soon as you were through with him, I took control of your body and had you attack his base while placing a false memory in your head. Once I had all of the resources I would ever need, I began planning my killings.

"I wanted to make some very large-scale killings that would undoubtedly cause your mind stress, even if you managed to save the victims. Some of these would require major preparation beforehand, the victims on the tower needing the most preparation. I knew that, also, the pod that trapped Sonic would point your suspicions towards Eggman.

"Your subconscious sensed that these killings and riddles were causing you a massive amount of stress. While it couldn't stop the killings, your subconscious did have the answers to the riddles. Jen, as it seems, was a creation of your subconscious that could alleviate your stress by giving you the answers to my riddles so that you also had a way of stopping me. She appeared to be nothing more than a perfectly innocent girl who could do you no harm and helped you when you needed her to. How fortunate for me that in the end, it was her that you suspected. And killing her caused you to go so mad with rage that I now have full control over your body. You filled your mind with anger and hatred, and I fed off of it. And when I heard what Silver had seen in the future, I knew that I would succeed. Eventually, I will disappear because of my agreement with Elise, but you will walk a barren and desolate world knowing that it was because of you that everything died. After that, I don't know. Perhaps you will kill yourself because of that knowledge. That, my friend, is the best revenge of all."

There was silence. Shadow did not want to accept this as the truth. He did not want to think that he would be responsible for the death of every living thing on the planet that he fought so hard to protect. He would not believe that he had been fooled by his own mind into thinking that there was a girl that could help him. None of what Mephiles said could be true. He was not Mephiles. But if he was...

"You're wrong," said Shadow. "There is a way to stop you."

When Mephiles regained control of Shadow's body, his grin faded. "You're a fool," he said. "It's destiny. It has been written on the fabric of time. Silver and Blaze thought that they could change it, but it will end up exactly as it was before."

"Silver," said Shadow, "do you remember when I said that it took two Chaos users to travel through time?" Silver nodded. "I think that I was the other. I helped to send you back in time to stop Mephiles. And there is a way that you can do it."

"Silence!" said Mephiles. Shadow found himself unable to speak; blocked by Mephiles.

"Silver, can you hear me?" asked Shadow, in his thoughts.

"Yes," said Silver, telepathically.

"I need you to take control of my arm; the one that is holding the gun."

"Why?"

"Never mind, just do it."

Shadow saw Silver's eyes begin glowing, and Shadow's arm began glowing green as well. "What is this?" asked Mephiles. "What are you doing?"

"Now what?" asked Silver.

"I need you to lift my arm so that the gun is pointed to the left."

"I'll try."

Slowly, Shadow's arm rose. He felt Mephiles struggling against it, trying to free himself from Silver's control. "Stop this!" panic was rising in Mephiles' voice. The gun froze for a second when it was about halfway up, Mephiles trying as hard as he could to keep it there. But again the arm rose until it was perpendicular to his body. Beads of sweat appeared on Silver's forehead. It was a major struggle to be fighting against the willpower of a god.

"What next?" asked Silver. "I do not see where this is going."

"Bend the elbow. Do it until my forearm is at about a forty-five-degree angle."

Silver's glowing eyes widened. He had figured out where this was going. "You can't," he said.

"It's the only way."

"What are you talking about, Silver?" asked Blaze.

Tears began forming in Silver's eyes. "He... He wants me to kill him."

Mephiles made Shadow's eyes snap wide open. Muscles in Shadow's neck tensed. "No," he breathed. He knew. Shadow was the only living host that he could live within. Not only that, but his life force was bound to Shadow's. If Shadow died...

"Shadow, don't make me do this!" said Silver. "I've seen to much death! I spent my whole life watching people die around me! Don't ask me to cause another person's death!"

"Silver," thought Shadow. "Mephiles is the single greatest threat to life as we know it that has ever existed. If you do this now, none of those people will die. I've gone down with the ship before. Right now, I'm begging you. Please kill us."

Silver closed his eyes. The conflict was apparent on his face. It showed anger, sadness, regret,... and acceptance. His eyes snapped open, and he stretched his arms out towards Shadow's body.

Like a clock that was moving backwards, Shadow's arm began bending, moving the gun towards his head. Mephiles was raging in Shadow's body, putting all of his powers into stopping his arm from moving. Shadow's body began growling, foam appearing at his mouth. Silver was struggling with all his might to keep Shadow's arm moving. But his arm refused to move anymore. Mephiles was succeeding. He was overpowering Silver's mind. Shaking, Shadow's arm began to move the gun slowly towards Silver. They were losing.

But then, two hands grabbed his arm. Mephiles turned Shadow's head to see Blaze, pulling with every ounce if strength that she had. They were locked in a stalemate for a long time. It was the mind of Mephiles against the minds of Shadow and Silver and the strength of Blaze. As it drew on, Shadow became weary. He was putting everything he had into moving that arm towards his head, but it was still not enough. Mephiles was too powerful, and he was too desperate to survive. But he had to fight. He had always fought. He could not stop fighting. He would not stop until his task was complete. He would not allow himself to fail now!

Whatever new sense of strength had come over Shadow seemed now to pour into Silver and Blaze. After so much fruitless effort, the arm began moving again. It bent further and further. Mephiles became more and more furious, threatening to destroy Shadow's body with his blind anger. But he was too late. The barrel of the gun touched Shadow's forehead. With his last ounce of strength, Shadow pulled the gin's trigger.

"Rouge," thought Shadow, "I don't know if you can hear me right now, but thank you. I would not have been able to go very far without you. You showed me what it meant to truly live. I might have lived forever, but without your help, I simply would have been there. You gave me your trust and your friendship. Above all, you were there for me. You helped me to regain my memories, to save this planet, and to be happy. And I repaid you with my biting words. I apologize for everything that I did to hurt you. I know that I said things to you that wounded you, and I am sorry. I only wish that there were some way that I could rectify that to you. Please forgive me. Do not forget me. And say hello to Omega for me, would you? I get to see Maria again. I'll be sure to introduce you when you get here, but don't rush it. You have all the time in the world."

With one shot, everything ended. With one shot, two lives were claimed. With one shot, the world was saved. With one shot, the chaos and confusion died. With one shot, two immortals were killed. With one shot, all those who saw fell into despair.

And yet Shadow the hedgehog died with a smile on his face.

The End.

**Well, there you go. Yeah, you probably hate me right now. But I've gotta say, that was one of the hardest things for me to write.**

**I hope you all enjoyed the story, but I bet you're wondering if I'm satisfied with the finished product. The answer is yes and no. I actually came up with the idea for this story a long time ago, and I only started writing it a few months ago. I really like the story, but I'm a little disappointed with how I put it together. I actually changed my mind about a lot of the plot points while I was writing the story, so a lot of the things that I put in there aren't necessary anymore. For example, my original idea was for Shadow to live at the end, and have him marry Rouge, and Silver would be their son. But now that that's not the case anymore, all of that talk about marriage and stuff is just taking up space, not going anywhere. So if I were a real writer, I wouldn't publish this yet. I'd make a lot of changes, taking out some things and putting new ones in, but overall, I do like my story. Let's just call it a first draft for now. Maybe I'll go back and rewrite it some day. If some of the premise looks familiar, I will admit that I was inspired by the book "Thr3e" by Ted Dekker. **

**But I do have a new story in mind. This one'll have Silver as the main character, though. I can't really tell you when to expect it because there are a few things I haven't decided on yet, but it'll be up at some point.**

**It's been fun, and I'll catch you guys later.**

**-Rev897 **


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